Where did you get a Yaupon? I have been looking for a dwarf yaupon from anywhere other then fast growing trees.
Also how do you brew Yaupon. Yerba Mate is supposed to be pressed tough with hot water not boiled or stepped with boiling water. like green tea is with sub boiling water.
I got one from fast growing trees. It is not dwarf, it’s Houston some thing. I got another one, which was also 1 gallon size from Etsy. This one was: This is a Yaupon cultivar called “Schilling’s Dwarf.” Living up to its name, it will only grow to four feet tall, and about as wide. It will assume a nice rounded shape, and can be easily trimmed or shaped, (and you can use the trimmings to make your own yaupon tea!). All Schillings Yaupon are male, meaning that they will not develop berries. They do have cheery flowers in the spring which attract a wide range of pollinators.
Growing well in sun or light shade in soils from dry to wet, Schilling’s dwarf holly withstands drought when established and is highly salt-tolerant, making it ideally suited to seaside plantings. It is a selection of the native yaupon holly, which grows naturally without irrigation on the dunes along the Atlantic Ocean. Growth rate is slow to moderate. Plant four to five feet apart for mass planting. Be sure to set plants several feet back from a walk, driveway or lawn area, because plants grow wider than tall and often require pruning to control their lateral growth. If you need to prune in this manner, be sure to leave the bottom of the plant much wider than the top so that lower foliage is left on the plant. If you attempt to shear vertically, the lower branches will be shaded and often lose foliage. This will give the shrub an unsightly, dark, leafless bottom.
And then I got a third one which was cuttings of dwarf from Etsy, they arrived completely dead. I put them in the ground anyway and all of them rotted and died. That was a disaster. In terms of overall size and health, the one from fast growing trees that look the best, but the one from Etsy, the dwarf chilling, is also nice. In terms of how a brewing, I have not yet done so, because there is still quite tiny. I want to let them grow for one season before I harvest them. So instead I have bad commercially available yaupon online 
It’s around a lot here, too. I would love to forage some, but I don’t have the search image internalized for it before it blooms.
My Argentinian stepmother says the “right” way to do it is to pack your mate (gourd) about 2/3 full and pour in a little warm water. Then you wait a bit and add more hot water to fill the mate. At this point you start drinking through the bombilla. Carry a thermos full of hot water with you an keep topping off throughout the day. You can also use cold water. It’s also supposedly not uncommon for a stranger to offer you a sip from their mate if they take a liking to you, and it’s impolite to refuse. I’d love to try this method with yaupon, but I haven’t had any on hand since I got my mate.
Both yaupon and mate respond really well to brewing like green tea.
Yep I was looking for the name Bombilla so i could post an image. They sell them in the shops her in Elizabeth NJ. I have not had any yerba mate in a while but when I do I just treat it like green tea with sub boiling water. I do reinfuse but since I use just enough in my cup I only infuse twice. Mate drinking is lifestyle for some.
Have you tried the gourd method? it’s a very different experience, much more intense. Not really any better or worse, just different.
Shutup and take my money Etsy. I hate holly’s because the berries are inedible/poisonous. Now that my food yard is coming together and my kids can go just pick forage for strawberries, goumi’s, blueberries and such I don’t want anything that might be dangerous.
Thank you. That’s very interesting. I have heard that Holly berries are toxic to humans but good for birds. But then reading various descriptions of yaupon, actually made me think that they don’t have poisonous berries. So it’s good to get this update. I will certainly abstain from eating the berries and just use the least try to get caffeine
Do we know if any holly varieties made into tea would be poisonous?
Holly’s also a great pollinator attractor. My one holly tree buzzes from 15 feet away in early spring.
I grow Houtuynnia Cordata. I tried to put it in my salad, as the leaves were tender. I didn’t like the flavor. Now I make tea out of it. It is well-researched as a very effective anti-viral (useful in the time of covid 19). I like the tea. It has a nice, mild flavor. Afterwards, I can use the leaves by putting them in a stew, rice, beans, or any other mixed dish. After cooking, they have a mild flavor.
PS: it is very invasive. I would only grow it in a pot or in a raised bed.
John S
PDX OR
Konjac, both ornamental plant or veggies /root crop. Very nice looking leaves and interesting texture on the stem
I thought I grew Solanum Torvum Sw (pea egg plant). Once it fruited, it turned out to be Solanum Sanitwongsei Craib (common name Sparrow Brinjal).
The pea eggplants are commonly use in curry and sauces.
The Brinjal can be used the same culinary way but it is a lot bitter. It is best known as herbal medicine. It is used to suppress coughs, reduce phlegms, as anti-inflammation and as cures of many other ailments.
Tippy I learned something new.I have never heard of either one of them . It looks a interesting plant.thanks for posting the picture
The plants and fruit are called Ma-Waeng (มะแว้ง) in Thai. I looked up, there are many brands of lozenges in liquid and tablets of this fruit. I donated my 3 plants to a Buddhist temple. My friend said they use them to make herbal medicine there, too.
I grow ground cherry this year it turns out well. Lot of fruits dropped on the ground. They are in smaller side but tasted wonderful. I really like the flavor and aroma.
I also have a volunteer grow right next to my ground cherry and has a lot bigger fruits. It has similar taste , aroma and texture of the ground cherry but is light yellow green and less sweet . I am wondering what it is?
Tomatillo.
Definitely tomatillo. It’s basically a big ground cherry. It’s one of the most underrated annual crops in my opinion. Super easy to grow, tasty, and productive. You can eat them raw, but they’re almost always used cooked. I like to roast them whenever I have enough to fill a pan, then puree them. You can then use that as a base for salsas or for braising/stewing. If you have a lot, this puree freezes well. Flavor wise, they work in a lot of the same places that tomatoes will, but with a more tangy, tropical flavor. I’ve used them in curries to good effect as well.
I use tomatillos on our daily juices…
Definitely agree.it is very easy to grow, no disease not pests grow like weeds. This is my first time taste the Tomatolli alone , I may have tasted it before in restaurants but it more likely mixed with other things/veggies herbs etc. I quite like its tropical flavor. I save few seeds and definitely grow it next year. I like to eat it fresh/raw. I may try in salad next time.
IL847, isn’t konjac the root they make noodles out of in Japan and China-like shirataki?
JOhn S
PDX OR
