Friday 23 March 2018

My rhododendrons are happy too




Plastic is everywhere, including my gut. I’m not talking about microfilaments recently discovered in bottled water and coke. I drink neither. I’m talking about teabags. Plastic in teabags. Who’da thunk?  I drink gallons of the stuff, cup after cup, and yet I should have known. The rhododendrons did their best.

Rhododendrons don’t like tea as such, but they thrive on the tannic acid – which is fine if we’re talking about loose tealeaves fresh from a drained pot. But we’re talking teabags here, and now I understand why they never seemed to compost but instead piled up like small mountains of brown withered skulls at the base of each plant.

They must have seen me coming, the rhododendrons, and groaned— What’s the fool doing now?— winced as the mountains grew bigger.

Since I’ve seen the light, tea drinking has become a whole new experience. I’m drinking the tea my mother served before the bag raised its hideous head, and rhododendrons no longer groan on seeing me coming. There were some teething problems – the want of a tea cosy – vital if you’re serving tea from a pot that loses heat quickly – and here is one made by a thoughtful friend. She also made me an apron, which, forgive me, I’m not going to wear here.



But the experience of ‘real’ tea instead of the dust served in those small, plasticised bags. Five large desert spoons of ‘Assam’ or ‘Strong English Breakfast’ in a warmed pot, will give you three cups of excellent tea. My blood is buzzing after the third cup and I’m set up for the day. My rhododendrons are happy too.

3 comments:

Maria Zannini said...

Ever since you mentioned tea bags could be made of plastic, I've been tearing the bag and emptying the leaf into the compost.

I can't tell by looking at them whether it's plastic or not. It might be. It doesn't tear as easily as before.

We don't use a lot of tea bags. Greg prefers coffee and if I must have something hot, I prefer apple cider.

I want a picture of the rhododendrons. I'll bet yours are beautiful.

Mike Keyton said...

Most of the plastic is in the sealing, Maria. In the interests of balance, here's a counter argument http://diyeverywhere.com/2017/03/20/dont-throw-away-your-teabags-heres-10-reasons-why-you-should-plant-them-instead/?src=rtxpromo&et=fbad&eid=61264_a&pid=61264&k=lgvs1v3daen00059&mt=1521446658.7353&esrc=fbfan_61264&rtpos=1
Having said that they take ages to vpcompost, and you're basically consuming dust in a bag. ��

DRC said...

Gee, I have a real hate for plastic at the moment. It gets everywhere and stays for ever. I'm seriously considering starting a campaign for hemp. Hemp plastic biodegrades in around 60 days. Anyway, I always remember my nan putting her used tea on plants. Why didn't I think of that for our poor deprived Rhodies? Hmm...note to self :)