BODEGOLD CHAMOMILE SEEDS

Matricaria chamomilla 'Bodegold'

Bodegold is a superior strain of German Chamomile with a sweet fruity flavor that makes amazing tea. Vigorous tetraploid plants are uniform and floriferous and rich in essential oil. If you're quick to harvest the first flush of flowers you might get a second. Use whole uprooted plants to mulch the garden at the end of the season, or compost them if you prefer. You can also combine them with yarrow and nettle leaves in a big bucket of spring water to brew a nice stinky biodynamic fertilizer.

Sow these seeds with a very light hand onto weed-free loose soil in early spring and water daily until germination occurs. Thin plants if necessary to 3" apart, taking care to transplant the uprooted seedlings if at all possible. Once established, avoid overwatering.

When they've just opened, on a sunny morning, pluck the flowers from the stems. Inspect for tiny insects and allow flowers to dry naturally on a screen or in a paper bag on the kitchen counter, shaking it periodically. Store completely dried flowers in a glass jar or tea tin. Sniff periodically and marvel at their sweet scent. To brew tea: steep one heaping tablespoon of dried flowers per 12 ounces of freshly boiled water for about five minutes.

Packet contains at least 1000 seeds.