We were blessed with no rain today, so the outdoor tour of the Carolina Tea Plantation on John's Island, actually Wadmalaw Island, was a wonderful addition to our repertoire. We learned that the philosophy of Wadmalaw Island is to start the day slow and taper off from there!! This tea plantation is the only tea plantation in America!! It is owned by the Bigelow Tea Company.
Eric, our trolley driver, explained that the sandy soil and average of one inch of rain per week is ideal for the eight different varieties of tea which grow well here. He quipped that this part of South Carolina is called Low Country because that sounds better than swamp! The sections of tea plants have ditches separating them for rain to run off, but they can also irrigate when rain is insufficient. There are currently over 90 acres of tea plants, camellia senensis, which are harvested in one week rotations, a section at a time by a specially designed implement which shaves off a couple inches of leaves from the top of the plant. By the time each section is harvested (there are 21), it is time to start again at the beginning. The first harvesting this year will begin next week.
There are three types of tea processed at the plantation, black, oolong, and green. We learned that the only difference in these types is the amount of time they are dried: 50 minutes for black, 15 for oolong and none for green. We were able to sip tea, both hot and iced, throughout the time there which certainly enhanced our desire to make purchases.
Charleston Tea Plantation grows its own plants by propagation from cuttings from current plants. These plants are about 3 months old and are being hardened in a special nursery. Note the ribs along the base of the planters. These are pipes through which cold water can be run to keep the roots at a certain temperature during the growing process.
We were advised that a good lunch could be had at a Farm to Table restaurant nearby and boy were they right. Once again good eats!!
As we were leaving the Tea Plantation Ashlie talked with a man who had just come from a nearby winery and highly recommended it. So we headed there after lunch.
The Firefly Distillery houses both the Irvin House Vineyards and a vodka distillery. The only grape which grows in the Charleston area is the purple and golden muscadine. We tasted five wines grown by the Irvins who got into the business when they retired in 2000. At the distillery we had the opportunity to taste six flavors: vodkas, liquers, rums, white lightning and bourbon--many were laced with tea from the Carolina Tea Plantation!
In the photo above you will notice gray stringy stuff hanging from the live oak tree. This is called Spanish moss, but it's not moss at all. It's actually a bromiliad-- like an air fern. They particularly like to parasitize the live oak and, if they get thick enough, can kill the tree. It is sometimes used as insulation, but must be sterilized of the chiggers which infest it!
We drove back to the FAMCAMP at Charleston AFB, where we have been camping for the past three nights, to have dinner at the Charleston Club on base. David and I enjoyed a 1/2 rack of ribs, our first here in South Carolina. It had a Carolina gold sauce which was slightly spicy and yellow in color, not something we've had before, but good.
Tomorrow we head to Savannah and welcome Heather, Kathie's other daughter, who will fly in for the weekend from Philadelphia. We'll be at a KOA where Ashlie and Heather will stay in a KOA Kabin.
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