Drought has hit our Mississippi tea farm. The hot and dry weather has been relentless. We have had 11 days above 100F and not had measurable rain since July 1st. We have had 63 days above 90F this summer. In other words, it has been hot and dry and now to the point of brutal and dangerous. Tea grows between 50F and 100F. It is also a poor conductor of water through the bush. We are currently running the irrigation over 7.5 acres of land on a daily basis. We pumped 655,200 gallons of water onto the crop last week. We are also watering at night to help evaporation stay to a minimum but with night time temps in the...
I recently got asked to share my thoughts on what we have learned from starting a tea farm business. Below are 5 learnings that stood out for us, starting The Great Mississippi Tea Farm. 1 - Be prepared to ride it out. Whether it is with equipment investments or just starting your first plantings, you have to be ready to ride it out for as much as ten years. When we planted our first 30,000 tea plants we lost all but 1000. That 1000, then took 6 years before it became able to produce any tea for sale. If you buy equipment, it is incredibly expensive and it may take 10 years before you get a return on that investment....
Where can you find our US grown tea, closer to home? Here is a map of where you can find our US Grown tea outside of our website. As more and more of our US grown tea comes into fruition we continue to work to get our tea available to you, even closer to home. We are very pleased to be chosen to sit on retail shelves or online shelves at companies near you. A lot of these wonderful retail stores provide many other great shopping options so check them out. Links to the retailers that carry a selection of our tea: US Retailers New Althaea's Garden, CT Pearl Tea Garden, Poplarville, MS Hall & Company, Brookhaven, MS Elmwood Fine...
We took our brand new Limited Edition Mississippi Tropical Fruit Tea and turned it into a delicious punch. The only downside of this drink, your cup will empty fast it just tastes that good! What is Mississippi Tropical Fruit Tea? Mississippi Tropical Fruit Tea is a limited edition tea grown and processed by us. Made with 100% US grown tea leaves, perfectly blended with Mango, Pineapple, Papaya and Tropical Fruit Extract. What is the difference between the tea and the punch? The tea itself is a looseleaf tea mixed with fruit pieces and tropical extracts. Made on its own it is just a great cup of flavored Oolong tea. With this recipe we take that tea and turn it into a punch....
Tea, one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world, has a rich history spanning centuries. Traditionally grown in cooler regions with moderate climates, tea plants (Camellia sinensis) have adapted to diverse environments, including regions with high temperatures. In this blog post, we will explore the remarkable resilience of tea plants in hot climates and their ability to thrive despite challenging conditions. Adaptations to Heat: Tea plants have developed several physiological and morphological adaptations that enable them to withstand and flourish in hot climates. These adaptations include: Leaf Morphology: Tea plants possess narrow and elongated leaves that help reduce the surface area exposed to sunlight. This leaf shape aids in minimizing water loss through transpiration, a crucial factor in...
