It has gotten a bit cooler which is better than the 95 degree days we have had. Its also hurricane season. It was only two years ago when we lost 340 big trees, which are still laying out in the woods around us. We can relate to the devastation and sense of hopelessness we see now on TV of our neighbors not very far away. The storm brought strong winds here which blew away my tea drying pen. It looked good the day before when I showed it to my tea customers (who bought pounds of tea) and showed how well it quickly dries tea.
I was not ready for this important piece of equipment to be destroyed. There is still some good tea plucking that can be done out in the fields. I have made 247 pounds this year but was shooting for 300. I’m looking at these large Mylar bags and thinking what am I going to do with all this tea? But year after year I see tourist come and haul it all away. I actually ran out last spring and had to hustle to make orders. I’m not sure if I will rebuild it or call it a production year.
We are now getting customers who want to buy plants as this is the time of year to successfully move them. My plant nursery is about 20 min away and was severely damaged in the Hurricane Sally two years ago. Half of the nursery area is still buried in dead trees and logs and looks like a solid beaver damn. I just do not have as many plants to sell as I have had in years past. Also, my son-in-law has a large weed eater and he likes to “clean up” a bit around the tea bushes. So if you want plants, seedlings from the original Lipton stock, let me know so we can schedule and appointment. I still sell them bare rooted for only $1 but this will be the last year for that low price. Call soon and come start your tea farm for a much more reasonable price than any of the others would offer.
I have put up our annual fall scare crow. That is tea behind us and he does a great job of keeping the crows out of the tea.
Our tea farm tours , which we did every day for months have slowed up a bit. I don’t know why as it is much more pleasant out in the tea fields than it was all summer. But, I am not complaining as we were doing more of those than I wanted. I am enjoying very much a 1:00 nap! You’al come see us.
Donnie Barrett