One of the easiest ways to start self sufficient seasonal living is by making your own homemade tea blends. If you can grow a few herbs in pots, a garden bed, or forage responsibly around the Okanagan, you can create simple teas for your health, relaxation or slow reading afternoons at home.

The best part? You can make your own blends with ingredients you already grow, dry, or dehydrate from the garden and my favourite part, give them fun local names!

Homemade tea doesn’t need to be complicated. Most herbs can simply be harvested, tied into small bundles, and hung upside down in a cool dry place until crisp. Once dried, store them in glass jars away from sunlight and mix your blends throughout the year.

Easy Herbs & Ingredients to Grow for Tea

These are some of the easiest tea ingredients to grow or preserve in the Okanagan climate:

Easy Tea Herbs

* Peppermint or spearmint
* Lemon balm
* Chamomile
* Calendula
* Lavender
* Sage
* Thyme
* Echinacea

Extras That Add Flavour & Make Blends Feel Special

These are what really make homemade teas taste like the cozy loose-leaf blends sold in tea shops:

* Dried apple slices
* Dehydrated peaches
* Pear chips
* Dried orange peel
* Rose petals
* Rose hips
* Hibiscus
* Cinnamon sticks
* Ginger slices
* Vanilla bean
* Cloves
* Cardamom
* Dried blueberries
* Strawberries
* Lemon peel

A lot of popular tea blends combine herbs with dried fruit or florals because they naturally add sweetness, aroma, and color without needing sugar.

Foraging Notes

The Okanagan is full of wild herbs and flowers, but always forage carefully and responsibly. Only harvest plants you can confidently identify, avoid sprayed areas near roadsides or vineyards, and never take more than you need.

Wild rose hips, elderberries, elderflowers, and wild mint are commonly used in homemade teas and syrups around the region.

Simple Drying Process

You don’t need special equipment to dry herbs.

Here’s the easy method I use:

1. Harvest herbs in the morning after dew dries.
2. Gently rinse if needed and pat dry.
3. Tie small bundles together.
4. Hang upside down indoors in a dry, airy space.
5. Once fully dry and crumbly, store in sealed jars.

For flowers like calendula, chamomile, or rose petals, you can dry them flat on a screen or baking rack.

Fruit can be dehydrated in a dehydrator or oven on low heat until fully dry.

Homemade Okanagan Tea Blends

1. Penticton Peppermint

Fresh, cooling, and simple for everyday sipping.

Ingredients:

* 2 parts peppermint or spearmint
* 1 part lemon balm
* 1 part chamomile
* 1 part dried calendula petals

Optional additions:

* Dried apple pieces
* Rose petals

Calendula gives this blend a soft floral hint and beautiful color.

2. Okanagan Sleepytime

One of my favorite evening blends for winding down after gardening, reading, or long summer days outside.

Ingredients:

* 2 parts lemon balm
* 1 part chamomile
* 1 part lavender buds

Optional additions:

* Rose petals
* Vanilla bean
* A tiny pinch of cinnamon

This blend smells like summer drying racks and herb gardens.

3. Mountain Immune Boost

A cozy herbal blend for colder seasons.

Ingredients:

* 1 part echinacea
* 1 part elderflower or dried elderberries
* 1 part lemon balm
* ½ part sage
* ½ part thyme
* Optional: dried rose hips

Optional additions:

* Dried orange peel
* Ginger slices

If using echinacea root, harvest from second-year plants for stronger properties.

Tea Blend Flavour Combinations That Are Always Popular

If you want your homemade teas to taste similar to the blends people buy in loose-leaf shops, these combinations are classics for a reason:

• Mint + Citrus = Peppermint with dried orange or lemon peel is one of the most refreshing combinations.
• Lavender + Vanilla = A calming blend often found in sleepytime teas.
• Apple + Cinnamon = Especially good in fall and winter blends.
• Rose + Chamomile = Soft floral tea that feels cozy and relaxing.
• Peach + Black Tea or Mint = Very Okanagan-inspired and great iced in summer.
• Hibiscus + Berry = Bright pink, fruity, and refreshing hot or cold.
• Lemon Balm + Strawberry = Fresh and light with natural sweetness.

Brewing Homemade Tea

For most herbal teas:

* Use about 1 tablespoon dried herbs per mug
* Pour over hot water
* Cover and steep 10–15 minutes

Covering your mug while steeping helps keep the herbal oils from escaping with the steam.

The Fun Part: Naming Your Blends

One of the best parts of homemade tea blending is creating your own names. Seasonal names, local names, cozy names — there are no rules.

Some ideas:

* Orchard Evening
* Cabin Calm
* Peach Valley Mint
* Lavender Sunset
* Garden Porch Tea
* Rainy Day Blend
* Harvest Moon Chai
* Orchard Spice
* Wildflower Evening

Making tea this way feels simple and practical, but also a little special. It’s an easy seasonal ritual that turns herbs, flowers, and dehydrated fruit into something useful year-round.

If you can grow herbs, you can make your own tea.

Create a Cozy Tea Ritual

One of my favourite parts of homemade tea season is slowing down long enough to actually enjoy it. Once your herbs are dried and your jars are filled, it becomes more than just tea making, it turns into a simple little self-care ritual at home. Pull out a vintage teapot and mismatched cups from the thrift store, or find mugs and tea pieces that genuinely make you happy to use. It doesn’t need to be fancy. Sometimes the little details make an ordinary cup of tea feel special and elevated. Pour your homemade blend into a teapot, carry it outside to the garden, and take a quiet moment for yourself.

Sip tea while:
* Reading a cozy book
* Stitching or knitting
* Gardening in the evening
* Sitting on the porch during summer sunsets
* Journaling
* Listening to rainstorms
* Winding down after preserving and canning days

In colder months, tea blends become part of those slower evenings indoors with blankets, candles and books. In summer, herbal teas poured over ice with dehydrated peaches, berries, or mint feel just as seasonal and comforting. That’s the beauty of homemade tea blends,  they’re simple, practical, inexpensive, and somehow still feel like a small luxury. A jar of dried herbs from your own garden can turn an ordinary afternoon into something spiel and of course totally self sufficient!

With Bliss xo