Monica Griesbaum on natural tea growing in Scotland and making tea

Dialogues with Nature

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5y ago 1:13:59

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In this episode I'm talking to Monica Griesbaum from Windy Hollow Tea Farm in Scotland who tells us all about how she lives and works in dialogue with nature through her beautiful relationship with tea, natural farming.

Monica generously shares her knowledge and experience about tea growing and tea making. She learnt traditional tea making techniques in Taiwan and took that back to Scotland with her, where she started her own tea farm growing her tea plants from seeds. Monica has a great respect for nature and the ecosystem in her farm and places a big emphasis on only using natural farming technique. She also tells us about organic and biodynamic farming and her passion to care for all living things.

‘Sometimes labels separate us, but we have so much overlap, similar aims and we can work towards we wish to achieve.’

Furthermore, we talk about the new tea culture in the West and legacy of the East. There seem to be an important thing that kept reappearing in our conversation, the connection between the farmer and the plants, between the leaves and the tea maker during preparation, the connection between the dry tea leaves and person preparing and drinking the tea. Also, the connection between tea farmers, tea makers, tea houses and tea drinkers seem to be a symbiotic one. They mutually depend on one another, just as much as the growth of healthy tea plants depend on the natural predators and the fertilisers in the soil, the temperature and water. The nuances of fine naturally grown tea can bear witness to a specific historic moment in time, whether the season was dry or exceptionally hot, how much rain there was as much as it has the fingerprint of the maker who plucks, rolls and dries the tea with their skill, care and patience.

Monica gives some wonderful advice to those wishing to embark on their own tea journey and encourages us to be open and keep learning.

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