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RE: Picking and processing tea leaves to make green, black and oolong.
It is not difficult but can be challenging. Some of the most important factors include having good plant genetics, proper soil and wind protection. Most of my plants are the "Sochi" variety, a cold hardy cultivar from Russia. Most of the plants are doing extremely well, some are always unhappy. From the happy plants, I take cuttings and save seeds which is how I hone in on the best genetics. I also grow some varieties from Southern China and Japan which are doing well, still young though. There is an established tea farm in Washington State (Sakuma Brothers), Oregon (Minto Island Tea), Mississippi, South Carolina, a handful on the Hawaiian islands and probably a ton more I don't know about. It's being done, you can do it too!
Thanks @ironwood I have always wanted to grow coffee (in a greenhouse) and tea. Just for fun. Just to one day make my own fresh cup of coffee or tea.
You bet. Coffee is fairly easy to grow too. I have a little plant inside with no berries on it yet. There was a coffee shop I visited on the Oregon coast that had a few large coffee plants inside with red berries all over them (the bean in the berry) though I don't know if it was any good. Its about time we started localizing our caffeine sources!