I had an overabundance of chamomile flowers in the garden this month. They were so pretty that I hated to harvest them. But I also didn’t want them to go to waste! After a little research, it seemed like some people might be making the chamomile harvest seem harder than it should be. People really went into some detail! So I just decided to go for it.

Chamomile grows 1 1/2-2 ft tall and 1 1/2 ft wide, with fern-like foliage and small white and yellow daisy-like flowers.

Growing Chamomile

Chamomile grows 2 ft tall and 2 ft wide, with fern-like foliage and small white and yellow daisy-like flowers. It only needs moderate water and doesn’t seem to have many pest problems. Chamomile is super easy to grow from seed, adds a beautiful cottage-flower look to your garden and makes a yummy, relaxing chamomile tea  – give it a try!

Harvesting Chamomile

As I said, harvesting the flowers was easy. However, it did take some time. I decided to play it dangerous and not wear gloves. But watch out for bees on the flowers if you follow in my wild footsteps. Grab what you need, which is basically something to put the flowers in, get comfortable and enjoy the “zen moment” of harvesting your beautiful flowers.

Everything I read said to harvest the flowers in the morning, so I would recommend that. But it was afternoon and I didn’t want to wait so I did it. It didn’t seem to be a problem. As with most things, the quote “Done is better than perfect” applies to gardening also.

Pick only the flowers – try to leave the stems and any buds that havent opened.

Harvesting chamomile flowers is a lot like dead heading flowers. You can’t really just shear them off (which is what my efficient husband wanted to do). There are baby buds forming below the flowers. Leave them there and you will get a second harvest. You want just the flowers for tea, not the stems. I could be making this up, but I think that the stems would taste bitter in your tea. I just took the flowers in between my fingers and pulled up, getting 3-5 flowers at a time. Throw them in your container, bucket or bag and that’s pretty much it.

My Western Garden Book of Edibles (highly recommend this book) says that they can be used fresh or air-dried on a screen in a place that’s protected from sun, rain and dust. My first batch, being the lazy gardener that I am, I just threw them in a brown paper lunch sack and left them for a week to dry out. But when I went to use them there were small black bugs in them. I wouldn’t have had that problem if I had air-dried them on a screen. I guess sometime you can’t corners! My second batch turned out perfect.

Making Chamomile Tea

To make chamomile tea, place 3-4 Tbsp of your dried or fresh chamomile flowers into teapot. At this point you can also add ginger or mint or any other herb that you’d like to try – get creative! Next, pour 8 oz of boiling water over the flowers and herbs and steep for 4-5 minutes. When done steeping, pour the liquid into a cup using a fine mesh strainer. Enjoy!

Benefits of Chamomile

Chamomile is best known for it’s relief of upset stomach and it’s help with insomnia. For more information about the uses of chamomile, check out this WebMD article.

Now go forth and garden!!