I’ve always loved herbal tea. To just sit back and slowly sip a steaming cup of herbal tea has always been one of the most relaxing simple pleasures that I have ever experienced. The cheapest box of 20 bags of spearmint tea is $2.19 at my local supermarket. This means that you are paying almost 11 cents per cup! So I figured why not try it on my own. I purchased a packet of seeds at our local Walmart for 10 cents of which I only used half of the package. I scattered these little seeds in a small plastic pot that was leftover from a boxwood plant that we had purchased to landscape our yard. This was about 3 months ago. Since then, we’ve already had one successful cutting which yielded enough for 23 cups of tea and I am headed out to cut it back again as soon as I finish writing this.
In order to prep the spearmint for tea, you simply gather the leaves in a bunch with a piece of string and hang them upside down until they dry. Once dry, just crumple the leaves a bit and store in a cool dry location in a sealed container (freezing is ok too). When you’re ready use, place the dried leaves into a tea ball and steep until you are satisfied with the strength of your tea.
I have not yet had to water it, fertilize it, or anything crazy like that. I just threw the seeds in, topped it with dirt, and walked away for a few weeks. This is amazing! Obviously 23 cups isn’t going to get me through too long so I wish that I had planted the entire packet but I will leave that for another day. This has been a great experiment in frugality!
By the way, spearmint is also a useful herb in dessert and alcoholic beverage recipes so it’s not just for tea anymore 
Tags: cheap, cooking, frugal, gardening, homemade, spearmint, tea, tightwad
