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News from the

Spring
Tea Gardens
At Camellia Forest 2023
Spring Greetings, Upcoming
Workshops &Events
As the winds of spring arrive (along with pine
pollen and the kinds that make us sneeze), at the
Tea 101
Tea Gardens we are busy finishing up mulching
with Danielle Hochsteder
and preparing new beds for planting.
Saturday, April 15th
2 pm - 4 pm
We have plenty of new seedings to test out -

Brewteaful, Queen Mother, and some biclonal Saturday, May 13th

Darjeeling and Assam-type seedlings (each from 2 pm - 4 pm
two known cultivars allowed to exclusively cross-

pollinate). Time to see how they handle the

North Carolina Piedmont Climate - will let you
know in about 5 years - haha! First Flush Fest
Sunday, May 28th
10 am - 4 pm
Tea is about to start growing, so we expect to be

starting our first flush harvest later this month.

Looking forward to making tea for sharing at
our spring open house, Sunday, May 28th. Camellia Forest
Nursery & Tea Gardens

Best, 620 NC Highway 54 West

Christine Chapel Hill, NC 27516
Contact us:
teaflowergardens@gmail.com
FB & Instagram: @camelliaforesttea
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Speaking of Tea
Christine had the honor of organizing and presenting the first flight of US-grown tea served at
the World Tea Expo in March. Teas from North Carolina, Virginia, Mississippi, Oregon, and
Hawaii were featured, including a tea-infused honey wine from Volcano Winery in Hawaii.
I'll be presenting the slides on Patreon in late April, with a recording, if you want to see them
and hear discussion about developments in the world of U.S.-Grown tea. In each newsletter
I'll share details about the featured growers, starting with Virginia Tea Farm. Pictured: Daniel
Lewis auctioning a copy of our book and behind the scenes with 15 pots of tea

New Workshop in April

Chanoyu: A Japanese Tea Ceremony Demonstration
Sunday, April 23; 1 - 3 pm, by Laurie Fais NOTE - this
workshop date is sold out, but sign up for the wait list and
we'll let you know the next time it will be offered!
Over the last 700 years in Japan, the procedure for
making and sharing a bowl of matcha has been honed to
an elegant and mindful art. Participants will experience
chanoyu, this traditional practice of the Japanese tea
ceremony. No prior knowledge is required; Laurie will
guide guests through the steps, describe the history and
intention of the ceremony, demonstrating the making of
the tea in the style of the Omotesenke school of chanoyu.
Laurie studied tea ceremony for 10 years while living in
Japan and an additional 10 years in North America. She
will be happy to share her experiences and her knowledge
in a discussion after the demonstration.
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What's been happening in the gardens?

Spring is a busy time for farmers...and there is no exception for tea farmers! And
we're just getting started. In January and February, we pruned the plants based on
age and existing frame-forming needs. We also had our first pruning class in
February and posted videos and a complete online version to Patreon.

It was warm in February, and some tea varieties were advancing. By March we
were already weeding, finding and filling vole holes, fertilizing, and mulching - just
in time for the new growth. We added a new row in our Forest Garden, planting
more biclonal Darjeeling seedlings for trials.

A class of intrepid gardeners joined us for a planting workshop on one of the

colder mornings in March. Soon thereafter it decided to freeze again, and so the
pot garden appeared.

Tea Garden Tips

If you haven't already, now is the time to:

Fertilize (balanced NPK or at least nitrogen)
Mulch to prevent summer weeds

If you have young plants:

Let them put on a few leaves before plucking!
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Virginia Tea Farm In the News

In 2013, Unchon Kil and Louis Ramos, and
their daughter Joanna, established the
Virginia Tea Farm. The farm is located in
open fields of the Virginia Piedmont with
about 5 acres grown from wild tea seedlings
from Jirisan Mountain, Korea. Unchon .
trained in growing tea using natural Korean
farming techniques and makes traditional
green and black teas using methods from the
Hadong region of Korea.
‘Grow Your Own Tea’ Author
Christine Parks Finds Success with
N.C. Tea Gardens | World Tea News
“You can’t buy happiness, but
you can buy tea and that’s kind
of the same thing.”
– Author unknown

Connect teaflowergardens.com

With Us teaflowergardens@gmail.com

@camelliaforesttea

@CamelliaForestTeaGardens