This is my second year growing German Chamomile in our garden. We chose to grow in a contained area, which happens to be a childs plastic swimming pool, placed near the deck of our garden area and punctured at the bottom to provide adequate drainage. I added the white wire fencing inside the edge of the pool as shown in the photos, to help keep the flowers stand upright, and not fall over into the "lawn" area outside the pool. It's very helpful since the stems are very thin and the wind can blow them around making them bend over...and since these can re-seed themselves (this crop came up from last year's seed), we prefer to keep them in the "pool" rather than having to dig the volunteers up all over the garden. Not to say they don't blow around; but this keeps them mostly inside the pool.
I have enjoyed this process so much, I wanted to share this process with you all, so that you too can enjoy growing and harvesting your own Chamomile to make teas or sachets or whatever you like with your own Chamomile! I hope you find my info helpful, if not entertaining.
FIRST:
You want to have a dedicated area for your plants.
According to information we found on
http://herbgardening.com/growingchamomile.htm,
"Chamomile is a good companion plant for basil, wheat, onion, cabbage and cucumbers, as well as increasing the essential oil production of many other herbs it is planted near."
Chamomile is also a great companion plant for your rose garden, along with several other herbs. If you do not have a large area, you can grow your Chamomile in containers as well, they are very easy to sow from seed. One gram of seeds can contain between approximately 10,000 and 18,000 chamomile seeds per gram, depending on variety. Simply spread your seed on your soil in spring or fall. Fall sown seeds germinate following spring. Seeds need light to germinate. They are very tiny, it's like sprinkling salt grains onto the soil since they are so tiny. Try to avoid doing this on a breezy day because they will surely blow away!! I try to make sure to cover lightly with a lightweight soil to prevent them from washing or blowing away.
NEXT:
Make sure to water well, but do not over-water your seedlings. You will start to see your sprouts coming in within a couple of weeks. They will be green and have look similar to dill at first. Your blooms will be tiny and look like daisies with fat yellow centers that are raised up at the center. When you have your blooms (in approximately one month from germination time), you may snip or pop the blooms and put in a container to bring inside. I have made bouquets of the blooms w/ the stems to bring indoors to dry as well. It helps to hang them upside down if you choose this route... the can get tangled up otherwise. Hang in a warm, dry place for about a month to allow them to dry. You won't want a bundle bigger than 1 1/2 inch at the stems...or it may not dry out adequately. The plants I started were from blossoms in a bouquet I received from a baby shower I attended in 2013.
If you chose the bloom only option, you will want them to have air to dry. Placing the blossoms (not the stems or leaves) on a screen (splatter screen from the kitchen is a great option due to it's tight mesh ) over a platter in a dry and breezeless window or area. Again, you will want these to completely dry out, so leave for about a month. Some folks like to use their dehydrator as well, but why waste electricity and risk losing your little blooms to the bottom of the device...when nature can do the job for you for free ??
STORING:
Which ever method you decide to use for drying your blooms, you will want to store them in an AIR TIGHT, GLASS container. We like the older tinted canning jars as they diffuse any light that may alter the content. Do NOT crush the flowers you have dried out. Simply put the dried flowers in the jar (I use a piece of Parchment paper to dump them onto and then pour into my jar to avoid transference of the essential oils onto skin or paper towel some have used). You may want to decorate your jar to let you know what is stored inside. Any kind of decorations like that would be of course, up to you to decide what YOU like! I like the peel & stick labels personally, simple and to the point. If you have a sealing device like the Seal a meal w/ a separate tube for removing air from containers, by all means use that to help remove any air from the jars. _
To brew as a tea:
Most recommendations call for 2 Tablespoons of Dried Blooms per 8 oz. Cup of hot (boiling hot) water. You may use a tea baller if you desire, or simply pour the water over the blooms in a teapot and cover for up to 5 minutes (longer for a stronger tea) and drain with a strainer into your teacup. I like to add a leaf or two of dried peppermint to this mixture as well as a little Raw Honey in my cup when adding the hot liquid.
I also found some helpful tips on The LIVESTRONG website at:
http://www.livestrong.com/article/23713-make-tea-chamomile-flowers/
For those of us fighting illness, and subject to mouth sores; this looks to be a good alternative to the harsher and more expensive treatments :)
Tips
NOTE:
Since this data was compiled over the summer, we have harvested 2 batches of Chamomile. After the second harvest, I cut the stems almost to the ground and scattered some seed. After that, we had a bunny make her nest in the pool... we left her be and the bed having been neglected, required re-seeding some refreshing come August. Just this week, we managed to get all the weeds removed and soil refreshed adding some peat moss to the mix. New seed was sowed this past week. Hoping to get at least 2 more harvests from the pool this year :) Make sure to check our Facebook page for more current photos and updates. https://www.facebook.com/tlcgardens.crafts.
Our thanks to the sites we found our information at, Livestrong.com, and HerbGardening.com, as well as the Seed Package from Burpee Seed Company! The photos provided, are from our own garden and home.
I hope you find this information helpful in creating and harvesting YOUR own Chamomile for whatever your purpose! We welcome your feedback, and if you wish to share photos with us of your harvest, you may do so on our Facebook page as well!
ENJOY!
tlc
I have enjoyed this process so much, I wanted to share this process with you all, so that you too can enjoy growing and harvesting your own Chamomile to make teas or sachets or whatever you like with your own Chamomile! I hope you find my info helpful, if not entertaining.
FIRST:
You want to have a dedicated area for your plants.
According to information we found on
http://herbgardening.com/growingchamomile.htm,
"Chamomile is a good companion plant for basil, wheat, onion, cabbage and cucumbers, as well as increasing the essential oil production of many other herbs it is planted near."
Chamomile is also a great companion plant for your rose garden, along with several other herbs. If you do not have a large area, you can grow your Chamomile in containers as well, they are very easy to sow from seed. One gram of seeds can contain between approximately 10,000 and 18,000 chamomile seeds per gram, depending on variety. Simply spread your seed on your soil in spring or fall. Fall sown seeds germinate following spring. Seeds need light to germinate. They are very tiny, it's like sprinkling salt grains onto the soil since they are so tiny. Try to avoid doing this on a breezy day because they will surely blow away!! I try to make sure to cover lightly with a lightweight soil to prevent them from washing or blowing away.
NEXT:
Make sure to water well, but do not over-water your seedlings. You will start to see your sprouts coming in within a couple of weeks. They will be green and have look similar to dill at first. Your blooms will be tiny and look like daisies with fat yellow centers that are raised up at the center. When you have your blooms (in approximately one month from germination time), you may snip or pop the blooms and put in a container to bring inside. I have made bouquets of the blooms w/ the stems to bring indoors to dry as well. It helps to hang them upside down if you choose this route... the can get tangled up otherwise. Hang in a warm, dry place for about a month to allow them to dry. You won't want a bundle bigger than 1 1/2 inch at the stems...or it may not dry out adequately. The plants I started were from blossoms in a bouquet I received from a baby shower I attended in 2013.
If you chose the bloom only option, you will want them to have air to dry. Placing the blossoms (not the stems or leaves) on a screen (splatter screen from the kitchen is a great option due to it's tight mesh ) over a platter in a dry and breezeless window or area. Again, you will want these to completely dry out, so leave for about a month. Some folks like to use their dehydrator as well, but why waste electricity and risk losing your little blooms to the bottom of the device...when nature can do the job for you for free ??
STORING:
Which ever method you decide to use for drying your blooms, you will want to store them in an AIR TIGHT, GLASS container. We like the older tinted canning jars as they diffuse any light that may alter the content. Do NOT crush the flowers you have dried out. Simply put the dried flowers in the jar (I use a piece of Parchment paper to dump them onto and then pour into my jar to avoid transference of the essential oils onto skin or paper towel some have used). You may want to decorate your jar to let you know what is stored inside. Any kind of decorations like that would be of course, up to you to decide what YOU like! I like the peel & stick labels personally, simple and to the point. If you have a sealing device like the Seal a meal w/ a separate tube for removing air from containers, by all means use that to help remove any air from the jars. _
To brew as a tea:
Most recommendations call for 2 Tablespoons of Dried Blooms per 8 oz. Cup of hot (boiling hot) water. You may use a tea baller if you desire, or simply pour the water over the blooms in a teapot and cover for up to 5 minutes (longer for a stronger tea) and drain with a strainer into your teacup. I like to add a leaf or two of dried peppermint to this mixture as well as a little Raw Honey in my cup when adding the hot liquid.
I also found some helpful tips on The LIVESTRONG website at:
http://www.livestrong.com/article/23713-make-tea-chamomile-flowers/
For those of us fighting illness, and subject to mouth sores; this looks to be a good alternative to the harsher and more expensive treatments :)
Tips
- Drink the chamomile to soothe an upset stomach, to relieve anxiety, to promote sleep or just to enjoy the mild flavor of the tea. You can drink the tea as is or lightly sweeten it with a little bit of honey.
- Apply unsweetened chamomile tea directly to your skin to relieve skin irritations, after the tea has cooled.
- Pour cooled and unsweetened chamomile tea over your hair after shampooing to bring out golden highlights in your hair.
- Swish a mouthful of cooled, unsweetened chamomile tea to soothe mouth ulcers.
NOTE:
Since this data was compiled over the summer, we have harvested 2 batches of Chamomile. After the second harvest, I cut the stems almost to the ground and scattered some seed. After that, we had a bunny make her nest in the pool... we left her be and the bed having been neglected, required re-seeding some refreshing come August. Just this week, we managed to get all the weeds removed and soil refreshed adding some peat moss to the mix. New seed was sowed this past week. Hoping to get at least 2 more harvests from the pool this year :) Make sure to check our Facebook page for more current photos and updates. https://www.facebook.com/tlcgardens.crafts.
Our thanks to the sites we found our information at, Livestrong.com, and HerbGardening.com, as well as the Seed Package from Burpee Seed Company! The photos provided, are from our own garden and home.
I hope you find this information helpful in creating and harvesting YOUR own Chamomile for whatever your purpose! We welcome your feedback, and if you wish to share photos with us of your harvest, you may do so on our Facebook page as well!
ENJOY!
tlc
RSS Feed