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Thirty years ago, it was said only a fool would have tried to grow grapes on Vancouver Island. Today there’s almost 30 wineries on the Island. Fools rushed in, I suppose.
And now, we have a tea-growing pioneer. Tea Farm is operated by Victor Vesely and Margit Nellemann who expect their first tea harvest in a couple of years, five years after they got their 200 tea plants in the ground. “So far, our young tea plants have made it through three winters and are doing very well,” they say. “We are confident that within the next few years we will be offering a limited harvest of 100 per cent local Cowichan tea.”
To the best of the owners’ knowledge, their tea farm is the only one in Canada. “To grow tea, uncovered, to the best of my knowledge hasn’t been done,” says Vesely. Their organic farm is about eight kilometres north of Duncan and two terraces on their 11-acre property have tea plants.
Under normal conditions, tea plants take four or five years for the roots to fully establish and the plant to mature and “flush out” with tips that can be plucked . “Right now they’re growing their roots and establishing themselves,” says Vesely. “We’ve had occasional setbacks. Deer have gotten to them. But we’ve never covered the plants. We’ve pushed the envelope and challenged the plants. In our third year, we’ve established that we’ll be planting more.”
The couple have been using some of the tea leaves for culinary purposes. “We’ve worked with local chefs and done fun things like rolled tea leaves dipped in chocolate.
While they wait for their first tea harvest, they’ve operated a tea room and hold tea events. They grow lavender, calendula, roses, mint and hops for their handcrafted tea blends and herbal infusions. Nellemann is a ceramic artist and makes tea pots and cups.
“Tea and clay are our passions,” says Vesely. “When we moved to the property 10 years ago, our concept was of tea, food and art.”
For information on upcoming tea events, including Tea And Tango, Tea And Sweet Pairings and Sunday Tea and Talk, visit http://www.teafarm.ca.
mstainsby@vancouversun.com
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