See this plant?
This is German Chamomile growing in the tea garden at Hana Farms, the organic farm I worked at in Hawai’i.
This sad scraggly thing is also German Chamomile:
This particular specimen is looking pathetic because I transplanted it to the garden bed in front of my cabin, and, at the time this photo was taken, it was still adjusting to its new home.
The farm manager told me that when you transplant something, it helps to pick off any flowers so that the plant will focus on growing stronger roots instead of wasting energy on keeping its flowers from wilting.
So, when I saw my German Chamomile flowering, I popped off the buds and dropped them on to the ground to become mulch.
I didn’t think anything of it until a few weeks later when I was at a grocery store in Paia, the day before E and I were leaving Hawai’i. The grocery store (Mana Foods, check it out if you’re on Maui because it has a wide selection of natural, local, and organic food) had a large section of bulk dry goods for purchase — grains, spices, coffee… even chamomile tea.
And you know which part of the plant you use to make chamomile tea?
The flowers.
The flowers, which I had so carelessly tossed aside.
This has been another episode of opportunemma-tries-to-make-tea-and-does-something-dumb-instead. Thanks for reading.
