At La Luna we have 2 tea lots that are planted with Camellia sinensis, the plant from which the world’s rich variety of teas – black, green, oolong, white (just to name a few) – is derived. We harvest the soft, green tips from these bushes during the growing season of spring and summer. In the Witch’s Kitchen we steam the leaves and dry them. We then package the green tea for immediate transfer to you, to ensure freshness and flavour are maximised. In autumn the tea bushes are covered with delicate white flowers. We are experimenting with harvesting these flowers to dry them and use in tea blends.

In the middle of one of the tea plots we have four rows of blueberry and raspberry bushes. We harvest berries for sale at local markets (and to cook and eat in the Witch’s Kitchen!). We harvest raspberry leaves and dry them, ready to use in Raspberry tea

Behind the house is a small orchard and we harvest lemons, oranges, mandarins, grapefruit and macadamia nuts when the season is right. In the Witch’s Kitchen we make preserves from the fruit, and dry the peel from lemons, limes and mandarins to add to our different herbal tea blends.

Growing at the edge of the rainforest are some gnarled old bush lemon trees. In winter we harvest the fruit and bottle them with salt, lemon juice, bay leaves and spices, so by spring time we have preserved lemons.

At La Luna there are magnificent rainforest trees all around – red and white cedars, Illawarra flame trees, pittosporums and lillipillis, to name a few. Many of these trees yield delicious edible fruit. Acronychia oblongifolia is covered with beautiful white berries in the early part of winter. The berries are quite tart, with a fresh citrus flavour. In the Witch’s Kitchen we dry these berries and add them to some of our herbal tea blends. We still have a lot to learn about the native edible fruits and leaves growing in the forest at La Luna. As we learn more we hope we can expand the range of wild-harvested fruits and leaves in our teas and preserves.

Also growing wild at La Luna, in the cool, wet forest gullies, are stands of the iron-rich herb Urtica dioica, better known as Nettle. Although unpleasant to grapple with if you are unprepared, once cooked, nettle makes a wonderful vegetable, and when dried it is a mellow, herbaceous tea herb. At the Witch’s Kitchen we dry our nettle leaves ‘til they are brittle and sting-free. Then we package them unblended to be enjoyed as relaxing, soothing nettle tea.

At La Luna our dam is in a perfect position to look around at the craggy cliffs at the top of Saddleback Mountain. We have planted water chestnuts at the edge of the dam, and their thick, green rushes provide the perfect hiding spot for what sounds, on a summer evening, like thousands of frogs, as well as wild ducks and the occasional python. There must be eels and yabbies in the dam. I haven’t tried to find the eels, but I do think about them when I am wading in the dam pulling out aquatic weeds, up to my hips in water.

On the downhill slope below the dam we have planted a small meadow of mixed lavender varieties – English, French, Italian and Grosso. We harvest the flowers from English lavender, the traditional culinary lavender. In the Witch’s Kitchen we dry the flower heads in the traditional way, by hanging them in bunches upside down. When dry, we strip the flowers from the heads and use them in our Lavender herbal tea, as well as in tasty treats we cook at home.

For the last five years at La Luna we have been planting small, experimental gardens that contain a large variety of herbs, to ascertain what would grow well and to determine what might be harvested and dried as tea herbs. Amongst the herbs growing at the moment are Feverfew, Pennyroyal, Korean mint, Hyssop, Wormwood, Comfrey, Tansy, Rosemary, Oregano, Lemongrass, Melissa balm, culinary Myrtle, Juniper, Sage and Lemon verbena. We harvest the flowers, roots and leaves from most of these plants (though not the Comfrey or Wormwood), dry them and use them in our various herbal tea blends. Over the coming seasons we will expand our plantings of herbs to increase the quantity and variety we have available.

Just recently we finished building a veggie garden on a sunny clearing at La Luna. The veggie garden has eight large garden beds that are planted with lettuces, cabbages, spinach, beets, nasturtiums, garlic, chives, potatoes, beans, cucumbers, pumpkins, carrots. We sell our excess veggies in the Pyrmont area in Sydney, and at local markets.