Gardening
Life Lived Outside
The Kerby's Nursery E-Newsletter
September 3, 2020
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Backyard Beverages  |   Weekly Special  |   New Arrivals
Time for Tea
by Joey Bokor
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If you've ever watched the show The Big Bang Theory, you might remember one of Sheldon Cooper's funny quirks about offering hot beverages. To him, it is a non-optional social convention to offer a friend a hot beverage when they are upset. And throughout the show, he expands on the convention, calling for hot apple cider with cinnamon sticks to be offered when someone is angrier than ever and full of despair and hot cocoa when someone is outraged about an unannounced houseguest. The standard of course is to offer a friend who is upset hot tea.



I was thinking about this little quirk of Sheldon's as I walked the nursery this week and realized we have quite a few plants that can be grown in your backyard garden and used to make different types of beverages, including Camellia sinensis, the source of tea.

Tea is one of those world-wide beverages that has been used for centuries for healing, relaxation and of course refreshment. (Anyone else craving a tall glass of sweet tea right now?) Plus, as Sheldon reminds us, it can be used to help calm and relax a friend who is having a bad day.



In a year that has seen us all run a range of emotions that would have had friends offering the above beverages if they'd been able to visit, finding ways to relax is more important than ever. Without as many friends and family around, you have to make sure that you are taking care of yourself. It takes finding routines that allow you to breathe and to shut out the world for a minute. We've talked a lot this year about how the garden is an amazing place for finding peace and tranquility. And now with some of the plants and instructions from the article below, you can also grow the plants that allow for a relaxing tea-time routine. Get them planted and the next time a friend comes over upset, you'll be ready to offer them the appropriate hot (or cold) beverage, with ingredients grown in your garden.

Happy Gardening,
The Kerby's Nursery Family

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The Weekly Special
All Herbs - 20% Off
Whether you need something to flavor a beverage or to add a little zip to your best recipes, fresh herbs make all the difference. This week only, 4" and 6" herbs are 20% to get your edible garden growing.
Valid Through 9/9/2020

Backyard Beverages

If you are a tea-lover, then check out all of the different plants below that can be grown in your backyard for fresh, home-grown beverages.

Tea Plant - You might not know that you can grow real tea in Florida. It isn't a commercial crop here, so you don't usually hear about it. It is a plant in the camellia family and prefers morning sun and afternoon shade to thrive. The newest leaves are harvested for tea-making and do require a little preparation to be ready for brewing. Click here for at-home tea making instructions.

Lemon Grass - and Lemon Balm are great additions to tea. In fact, Lemon Grass also goes by the name Fever Grass and can be brewed by itself to make a tea that can help reduce fevers.

Chamomile - is known for its relaxing properties and is often an ingredient in stress-relief and sleepy-time tea mixes. For this type of tea, you don't use the leaves, but use the dainty little flowers.

Herbs - Mint, Basil, Rosemary and Lavender are just a few herbs that can be used to brew delicious drinks. Many have medicinal and antiseptic properties of one sort or another, and all provide delicious flavor depending on what you are in the mood for.

Yerba Mate - This plant (Ilex paraguariensis) is in the ilex family, which also includes common holly bushes. The leaves of this particular species are dried and brewed into a tea that contains caffeine for energy and antioxidants for general immune system boosting.

There is always something new to grow in a garden and something fresh to harvest. Enjoy the fruits of your labor with some of these backyard beverages.

New Arrivals
Tomatos and Peppers

First veggies of the season
4" Pot - $4.99
6" Pot - $6.99
New Terra Cotta Pottery

Sizes and Prices Vary

Sweetheart Hoya

Tell someone you love them
2" Pot, Single Heart - $7.99
Dwell at Kerby's - The Houseplant Shop

Take a peek at our new houseplant shop. Now you can shop for planty gifts for your friends and family from the comfort of your home and have them shipped anywhere in the continental United States.
Share your love of plants with someone today.

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Kerby's Nursery

2311 S. Parsons Ave.

Seffner, FL 33584
(813) 685-3265
www.kerbysnursery.com


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