Mobile Tea Garden

*** WEATHER UPDATE ***
With the forecast calling for 100% chance for thunderstorms this morning and into this afternoon with rain totals from 5” to 8” of rain we have decided to not set-up at Market in the Park today.
We hope to reschedule for one or two of the coming weekends. Stay tuned.

We will be back at Market in the Park tomorrow morning. Hope to see you all there.

First brewing and tasting of “Old School” Oolong this morning! This oolong is a bit lighter on the oxidation scale from our previous oolongs and therefore less earthy and definitely more floral. The aroma is of jasmine and a hint of gardenia. The flavor is definitely of jasmine. Betty and I enjoyed several cups on the deck - one with a dash of Manukā honey.
We’ll have this tea available this weekend at Market in the Park. Hope to see you there.

15”+ rain in May has transformed the tea garden… I am back in the processing business. Saturday brought a full day of processing oolong tea to get us restocked for this coming weekend’s Market in the Park downtown. This batch of oolong was all hand picked and I used the pan firing method to end the oxidation stage - what is called ‘kill green’. This method has been used for centuries and is still used by small family tea farms in China. Going forward we are calling this tea ‘Old School’ Oolong. I’ll make a pot tomorrow morning and report the results.
But for now, back out to the garden for another day of harvest and processing!

Harvested tea both Saturday and Sunday this past weekend. Most of this still first growth or flush for many of these plants. Like most tea growers I like to dedicate this early tea to making the more delicate teas …mainly green tea in my case. Saturday’s batch was processed in the Japanese style with the leaves being steamed - to fix the tea / to prevent oxidation. This has been my go-to method for making green tea.
Sunday’s tea was processed in the Chinese style of pan firing to produce the same result. Whilst both are green teas, they have two distinct flavor profiles. I have to say that I was quite pleased with the look, aroma and taste of the pan fired tea.

Good news on the drought front! We have gotten around 8” of rain since the beginning of the month and the tea garden is beginning to wakeup. And not a minute too soon! The last two weeks of April and the beginning of May are usually bumper crop time …first flush! Not this year - I have had one tiny harvest day over 3 weeks ago. In comparison to last year at this time I am down almost 90% in fresh leaf harvest. But, things look to be improving with the good soaking rains of the last two weeks. I hope to be back out in the garden harvesting tea leaves in the next few days - I have a lot of ground to make up. Fingers crossed a regular rain pattern is maintained in the coming weeks. 🤞🌱🌦️

We are set-up and ready to go for a 7:30am kickoff here at Market in the Park in our rain venue located at James Seals Community Center 540 Texas St. There are plenty of vendors here today in a dry and comfortable environment. Come on down.

Mobile Tea Garden will be back at the James Seals Community Center on Saturday from 7:30 - 12 noon with a variety of loose leaf tea for you to take home and enjoy. Come down to 540 Texas St to see us and all the other great vendors.

Due to the weather forecast for Saturday, May 9, we will be relocating inside at the James Seals Community Center. ⛈️ Come out to support our local farmers and artisans from 7:30 a.m. to noon this Saturday!

Learn more about this event and others at cityofmobile.gov/events 🍓

We had a busy and wonderful MTG weekend! We started with a Friday prep day for Market in the Park held on Saturday. The rain venue turned out to be a success with lots of people turning out. I want to thank everyone who came and the many that stopped to talk and shop with us.
We were so thrilled that people were interested in our teas and decided to take some home to enjoy. There was a lot of interest in our two latest Japanese style green teas - Hojicha and Genmaicha. In fact we sold out of the Hojicha and nearly did with the Genmaicha.
We will be back at Market in the Park this Saturday with 5 different loose leaf teas to choose from. I got busy Sunday restoring and further refining our Hojicha tea for this weekend. I will do the same with the Genmaicha during the remainder of the week. So, please consider a trip downtown to see us at the market!

We are in full swing here at Market in the Park at the James M Seals Community Center at 540 Texas St near downtown. We’ll be here until noon so come see us and the the other great vendors.