Processing tea seeds for future tea plants.
Every fall we collect a large number of seed pods from the tea plants to process them for spring. Starting new plants from seeds is the best way to develop new tea plants as they will develop a long tap root. Tea cuttings will create new plants, but they will not establish the long taproot. The longer the tap root the more drought tolerant the plant is and with every tea plant being an investment of time and product, it is important to develop the healthiest of plants. Tea plant seeds start out with a very tough outer shell. We will collect a large number of tea seeds and then set them out in the sun for a period of time...