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Fall 2022
News from the
Tea Gardens
At Camellia Forest

Greetings,
Workshops
It is hard to believe Fall is here already—
planting time in the tea garden! We hope PLANTING WORKSHOP
Sunday, October 9
everyone had a wonderful summer, and for
9:30am-12pm
those of you growing tea, we hope your plants
are flourishing. Maybe some are flowering now Events
or have ripening seeds. TEA 101
Saturday, October 22
2-4 pm
Did you make tea this year? In our next

newsletter, we’ll be updating our growers’ FALL TEA

FOR ALL

survey— we want to know, how things are in Sunday, October 30

10:30am-4pm
your garden, what you’ve been learning, and

Join us to celebrate the end of our 2022

what are your biggest questions? harvest! There will be tours of the tea
gardens throughout the day and fresh tea
samples for tasting.
In this newsletter, we share some exciting
MEET THE MAKERS
happenings at Camellia Forest, including the first
Saturday, November 12
release of our new Patreon series on growing tea, an 10:30am-4pm
interview with a special friend of the tea gardens,
and fall tea gardening tips.
Camellia Forest
Nursery & Tea Gardens
Best, 620 NC Highway 54 West
Christine Chapel Hill, NC 27516
Contact us: teaflowergardens@gmail.com
Instagram: @camelliaforesttea
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New on Patreon:
Planting Series + "First Flush" Tier

We are so thrilled to release the first installment of

our newest Patreon-exclusive series, Grow
Your Own Tea: Planting In The Garden,
inspired by our in-person workshop.

This series discusses the ins and outs of how to A screenshot from our "Grow Your
plant your own tea— from identifying your Own Tea" Patreon Series

planting zone, ensuring proper drainage, and even GROW YOUR OWN TEA
planting in the fall versus spring seasons, to name
a few topics. Our next installment, to be released
later this October, will focus on Seedlings,
Clones, and Plant Selection.

Since starting our Patreon site earlier this year,

we’ve really grown— and we’re still growing! As
of this newsletter’s release, we’ve just created a
third patron tier. Titled "First Flush", this tier
allows patrons to access the same great content in
our bottom two tiers PLUS invitations to
exclusive on-site events (and mailed tea
samples for those unable to attend these events
in-person). Want to join us? Become a Patron After 5 years of planning, research,
today at patreon.com/camelliaforestteagardens. and writing we’re still celebrating!
Published in 2020, we are honored
that booklist named it “the guide of
We thank you for your support and hope to guides to growing tea.” Available at
continue growing our community on the Camellia Forest (signed copies by
request/at in-person events)
platform.
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What's been happening in the gardens?

This summer we’ve been planting in our

“Forest” garden, including some of our less
cold-hardy varieties under the protection of
pine trees. These include plants collected from
warmer climates and grown in greenhouses for
the past several years. We are cautiously
optimistic and excited to be expanding this
garden throughout the fall with new plants,
including more open pollinated Assam-type
seedlings and others from lowland Nepal!

Our really big news is that, after 5 years of

planning and preparing, our tea processing
studio and community classroom is under
construction! Framing is well underway, then
comes the roof, and we’ll be able to start
working on the interior, filling it with our tea
roller, woks, dryer (as well as all those hopes
and dreams). We love sharing tea with
everyone in the shady grove, but look forward
to all the years ahead expanding to this space.

Speaking of Tea

After presenting the past couple years in the
virtual format, we’re excited to be hosting an
in person booth at the Carolina Farms
Stewards Association Sustainable
Agriculture Conference on November 6.
Fun fact: Tea flowers include several
of the same compounds as found in
tea, though in differing quantities, and
more functional molecules.

We’re looking forward to connecting with

farmers and local food advocates, sharing
resources for growing tea and tea community.
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Friends of the Tea Garden | Farmer Cee of Green Heffa Farms

On a rainy September morning, we spent some

time with Clarenda “Cee” Stanley —better
known as Farmer Cee— of Green Heffa Farms.
Based in Liberty, North Carolina, Green Heffa
Farms is a farm, tea company, natural health
brand, and educational resource. It is also the
first Black-owned farm in the nation to become
a Certified B Corporation. This status is
granted to businesses that meet high standards
in transparency, social equity, and
environmental consciousness through their
practices. We chatted with Farmer Cee to
discuss our shared love for tea, lessons in
growing, and the importance of creating
community.

Farmer Cee at Camellia Forest Tea Gardens

For those unfamiliar, could you tell us a bit
about your mission and about Green Heffa
Farms?
Our mission is to produce high-quality, herbal
products —we do that in various blends and
teas— and to provide those to our customers.
species of medicinal plants and herbs—
everything from cannabis to ashwagandha
to calendula. We have a lot of different
herbs that we grow at our farm.
How did your interest in tea first start?

In addition to that, being a responsible I started drinking tea during a time of my

corporate partner in the community, we have
what's called our 4 E's. Those are our guiding
principles of economic prosperity, equity,
environment, and education. We try to ensure
that everything that we do ties into those
guidelines. We grow over two dozen different
life where I was really stressed. I started
having issues with anxiety and I was looking
for solutions that did not necessarily point
in the pharmaceutical direction, so I started
getting into medicinal herbs and plants to
see not how they could fix problems, but

provide me with some fortification so that I
was better equipped to deal with stressors in
life. Tea is one of those easy entryways into the
world of medicinal plants and herbs. It's really
hard to go wrong with tea. It was an easy way
for me to start incorporating more botanical
solutions into what I was dealing with.
What’s one important lesson you’ve learned
in growing tea?
One of the biggest lessons that I've learned is to
give yourself space to grow and to understand
that you're gonna kill a lot of plants. You're
gonna have plants that aren't happy, you're
gonna deal with disease, you're gonna deal with
pest pressure. It's really taught me how to adapt
and adjust better and not to necessarily freak
out when things don't go my way, but to kind
of step back from it and see what I can learn
from that experience.
What have you learned about the tea
community throughout your tea-growing
journey?
A lot of times when people are looking for
products it's from a functional standpoint.
They want it to perform in some kind of way.
Whereas I've found that with tea connoisseurs,
there's a lot of focus on smell and taste and the
experience. They're looking at how full-bodied
it is or how robust the flavor is, how it's
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processed, where it's grown, how much
shade the plant received. All of these other
factors aren't necessarily the same
considerations as someone who's looking
for herbal tea.
I'm kind of in both communities. I focus
on growing happy plants. I may not be able
to tell you about its parentage but I can tell
you that since they have been living here
they have been well-loved, fed, go to bed on
time, wake up on time, and have been
nurtured to maturity!
What would you say to someone who wants
to learn more about tea?
I definitely encourage people to explore the
world of tea. I think while it is definitely a vastly
growing area globally, here in the US, especially
in the South, we tend to think of something
sweetened and black (which is definitely not to
be looked over, that is a necessary beverage!)
but tea has so many other sides to it. When you
really get to know the plants it's absolutely
fascinating. They produce beautiful flowers.
Their leaves are beautiful. They have
personalities. Definitely get to know tea and
definitely look into herbal teas and know who's
growing your plants because that is going to
have an effect on the value and the benefit
they're able to provide.
To learn more about Farmer Cee and Green Heffa Farms,
visit greenheffafarms.com.
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Tea Garden Tips

Every fall, while we are sad to see the end of harvesting, we love to see the start of flowers and
ripening seeds. It is a great time to get out in the garden, so what can be done?

(1) Take out any late-season weeds before they set seed, then lay down 2-3 inches of mulch
like pine needles or oak leaves.
(2) Harvest seeds: when their husks split, keep the seeds fresh by storing in the refrigerator in
a plastic bag or Tupperware with a moist paper towel.
(3) Pick and dry flowers: they have a lovely scent and some people even like them in tea!

Volunteer at the Tea Gardens!

Our volunteer program is flourishing! Over the years we have enjoyed having volunteers.
Join us in the garden for tasks ranging from the mundane (weeding and mulching), to more
exciting activities such as helping at events, classes, or even tasting teas!

Please send us an e-mail at teaflowergardens@gmail.com if you are interested in being

added to our volunteer list.

Connect teaflowergardens.com
“No matter where you are in the
With Us teaflowergardens@gmail.com
world, you are at home when tea

@camelliaforesttea is served.”

― Earlene Grey
@CamelliaForestTeaGardens