I still can not get photos on this web site. I handle them regularly sending photos to family and friends but when I try to put it on here they turn to jumbled numbers and letters. My teenage IT helpers do not seem to be able to find what it is that I am doing wrong.
Its gotten really hot and I am getting only a few request for tours. That is OK as I have broken my left knee and can barely walk. It makes it hard to carry a tray of tea cups and walk around the tea farm. I am surprised folks will still come to the farm when it is so hot, but they do. One couple from Arizona were here and said “This is not too hot, this is nice.”
Even with a lame knee and 95 degree heat, I am still going out and picking small batches of tea, only about two bushels at a time. I usually pick twice that much in an afternoon picking. That way I do not get heat stress and we can process it quickly. As I dry tea in the sun, we can dry a small batch quickly in a couple hours. I’ve joked saying my dry pen works so well I could dry a pile of seals in it. Also, when oxidizing black tea, you need to sometimes add additional heat to get the oxidation-reduction going to between 95 – 104 degrees. That is real easy when it is 95 degrees outside in the shade. I just finished a batch and now it is drying out in the Sariah like sun!
We are still doing a brisk drive up business. In fact, over half of our tea is sold to drive up customers. I have a sign out front stating scheduled tours are $20 per person but five minute drive up tours are free. That works well as I show them tea bushes, talk a bit about tea processing, we look at the peacocks, they buy some tea and then I’m back inside taking a 1:00 nap!
With out looking, I think we have made about half the tea that we are going to make this year. I aim for about three hundred pounds or just when we get tired of making it. What promotes me to keep going is the bushes are covered with a ton of new growth screaming to be picked. Come visit us and Ill give you a pan and you can help. Its like picking peas, its fun for about ten minutes.
Write me an email and tell me what you think. Lytermanor@aol.com
Donnie Barrett