Today, @julzmaioro and I had a tour of the Zealong Tea Estate near Hamilton. What a great day learning about the only tea being grown commercially in NZ. It is quite a science to grow, pick and process the tea - the different processing produces different teas from the same plant. Tea in NZ is picked for 20 days, three times a year (January, March and November). Only the three top leaves are picked. The plants are trimmed in the spring and the trickiest time is if there is a risk of frost in October, which may nip the new growth or even kill the tea plant. If there are very low temperatures overnight, then a helicopter hovers over the crop during the night, to keep the air circulating and prevent the frost settling.
lovely tea cups