Turn your pot marigolds into tea. How to make calendula tea.

Calendula tea recipe

I came across this recipe similar to this on a visit to the Geelong botanic gardens. At the time they had a tea garden which featured amongst other plants, calendula. I thought I would write up my quick variation of this recipe to compliment my other post on dandelion coffee. According to info from the gardens drinking calendula tea has been used to treat gastric ulcers and infections of the mouth and throat. It improves digestion, relieves menstrual cramps and helps to relieve liver disease. I have no idea if any of that is actually true but you can believe it if you want :). This tea tastes very mild not bitter and is quite refreshing.

Lots if text I've read states it is important to only use Calendula officianalis (common name pot marigold) and not the other varieties of marigolds (Tagetes) because they may not be edible. Some text I've read states otherwise. Based on my current level of knowledge on the matter I wouldn't risk it at the present time.

Equipment;

A coffee plunger, colander and a grater.

Ingredients;

• 1/4 cup of fresh calendula petals
• 1 tablespoon of honey
• Sprinkling of cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon of orange zest
• 2 tablespoons of fresh orange juice
• Boiling water

 

 

Method;

Steep calendula petals in 1 cup of  boiling water for  5 minutes with the grated orange zest. Add the honey and orange juice. Stir and strain into a cup then sprinkle with a pinch of cayenne pepper.

Calendula officinalis aka pot marigold a greet self seeder in my home garden

Calendula officinalis the plant that keeps on giving

Calendula or pot marigold is a very popular and common annual flower in many ornamental gardens throughout the world. In fact it is so commonplace that I found inconclusive results as to which region this plant originates. Some sources say Europe and others India. It can grow to about 80cm tall in extreme cases and can be used in mass plantings as a complete ground cover. Calendula has many medicinal, companion planting, culinary and even cosmetic uses which I will write about in another blog entry.

Self seeding 

I planted Calendula in one of my flower beds at home a couple of years ago and it is still going strong to this day. Being an annual plant Calendula's tactic for reproductions is to produce as many seeds as it can which fall to the ground after the flowers are done. The flowers are at their best in spring and summer however in Melbourne they can pretty much have some sort of flower on display all year round. The seeds have an interesting shape and remind me of little dried and curled up millipedes. The first year they sprouted in my garden from self sown seeds I originally thought they could be forget me not seedlings (forget me nots are a bit of a weed in my area depending on whether you like them  or not). Luckily I suspected they could be Calendula seedlings and let them develop into full plants.

Escape artist

Calendula is such a successful self seeder that it can escape if you let it. It is not fussy about soil conditions and I have seen it growing in my Macedon garden in between pavers where the soil would be quite poor. If you want it to self seed as I do then leaving a few plants to die off naturally will ensure they are perpetual garden residents. If you don't want them around any more it is important to dead head or pull out the plants once they develop seed heads (see below the picture below).

Calendula flowers in my Macedon garden during early summer.

A close up of a Calendula seed head loaded with seed. If you don't want any more pot marigolds then you need to make sure these little seed bombs don't hit the ground.