TEA GARDENS OF SCOTLAND - in Angus
Angus is well known for its fertile soil producing potatoes and soft fruits, but tea particularly favours nitrogen so one garden planted crimson clover to condition the ground. This was ploughed back in prior to planting. The two growers tea planting strategies also differ. One has grown their own seed using root trainers and has decided to wait another year before planting out. The other has planted out this year and will decide what formative pruning is required next year after sharing ideas and information with the other TGS growers.
Kinnettles Tea Garden, Angus
Kinnettles Tea Garden is part of an arable farm, located in the Strathmore Valley in Angus on the East Coast of Scotland. Tea is planted in two poly tunnels, an old walled garden and more recenlty outside in a field. Our tea adventure started in 2007 as a result of looking into diversification and reading an article about growing tea in Cornwall. Glossy pictures of plants identical to those we have here: rhododendrons, primulas, snowdrops encouraged us to think that if tea could grow in Cornwall, then why not here on our sandy, loamy acidic soils.
Last year our total crop was 2.5Kg of made tea which means 12.5kg of green leaf was hand plucked from just under 300 bushes. Now as our project expands with our Tea Gardens of Scotland seedling tea, we will have 4300 bushes to pluck next year and 6300 the following year. We will start using some small scale machinery as making tea by hand from 300 bushes is workable, but 4000 bushes without the help of small scale machinery would be impossible!
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Kinnordy Tea Garden, Angus
A walled garden with tea planted in one quadrant as part of diversification for the economics of the estate. It also provides a link to our time in Japan during the 1970s, where we enjoyed green tea and tea ceremonies.
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