Tea Gardening for Beginners

by Julia Dimakos

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Tea Gardening for Beginners is an interesting and well written tutorial guide for hobbyists who want to experiment with growing and blending teas at home. Due out 26th July 2022 from Callisto on their Rockridge Press imprint, it's 136 pages and will be available in paperback and ebook formats. (Ebook available at time of review). It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book is currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free.

The first chapters give a short overview and introduction to what tea *is* and how to grow different plants and plan for the special culture needs of tea plants, along with a little bit on hardiness zones and garden planning. The author, Julia Dimakos, is an experienced gardener and teacher with a experience in home gardening.

The majority of the book content covers individual plant profiles. They are arranged thematically by which part of the plant is used: leaves, flowers, fruits & seeds, and roots. The book also contains a number of recipes for different tea blends such as health & wellness, relaxation blends, energy, bedtime, and a few others. Recipe ingredients are given in a bullet list. Measurements are provided in imperial (American measurements only), followed by blending and preparation instructions. The instructions and plant profiles are easy to understand and follow and the illustrations are clear and easy to identify.

There are no photographs included, but the book is charmingly illustrated throughout in watercolor. The author/editors have included useful resource and links lists as well as a hyperlinked bibliography which will provide readers with lots of further information.

Four and a half stars. Very well written and up-to-date information.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.