Homestead farming: Tea business is buzzing for small East Coventry farm (photos)
EAST COVENTRY >> Local farmer David Ryle is fond of all the plants he grows, but there’s one herb he calls his “favorite child.”
Holy basil is the main ingredient in the popular tea he makes and sells.
Ryle and his wife Wendy are the owners of Jubilee Hill Farm where they grow organic produce using sustainable methods. The Ryles started Jubilee Hill over three years ago, but holy basil entered their lives before then. David Ryle said he first “met” the delicious herb while working on a large organic farm in Massachusetts where he was responsible for a medicinal garden.
“One of the things that I grew was holy basil and I was so blown away by it,” Ryle said. “I was really smitten with the scent that it gives off and the look of it.”
The holy basil plant has vibrant green leaves with violet blossoms. Ryle said the aroma is a cross between mint and cinnamon.
The plant is native to India going back thousands of years. The herb’s Indian name is Tulsi and it’s one of the Hindi deities, Ryle said.
“Most Hindi families have at least one plant in their house,” he said adding that the potent herb is used in a poultice or tea to heal the sick.
After learning the basil is good for tea, David decided to brew his own.
“I took a bunch and I dried it. I steeped in some water and it was so incredible that I shared it with Wendy,” he said adding that his wife became his first convert for the beverage.
Wendy Ryle said she’s not an avid tea drinker, but there was something about the holy basil that she instantly liked.
“By itself and nothing added to it, it’s just approachable. You drink it and it’s not too sweet or bitter,” she said.
The Ryles have been consuming the tea for five years and decided to share the experience with others. They now sell Tulsi Holy Basil Tea through farmers markets in the summer and through local stores and online orders all year long.
“Every time I introduce it to someone, it’s very exciting because there’s a very positive response to the tea,” David Ryle said.
He said the tea sales account for about 30 percent of the farm’s profits. People aren’t the only ones who enjoy holy basil. Ryle said when he harvests the herb, he sees thousands of honeybees surround the plants and they are covered in red pollen.
“The field is just humming,” he said.
Ryle thought it makes sense to capitalize on this natural process. He would like to increase his tea production next year and start producing honey.
“When we grow the basil, we see the bees and the bees love it,” Ryle said. “I can only imagine how wonderful that honey will be.”
Just as there is clover honey or wildflower honey, Ryle wants to introduce his customers to holy basil honey and believes they will enjoy it just as much as the tea.
“We would love to be able to say here’s our holy basil tea and here’s our holy basil honey,” he said.
Not only does Ryle want to sell another marketable product but he also wants to help safeguard the bees with the nation’s current pollinator decline.
According to reports from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, losses of honeybee colonies have continued at a 33 percent level for the past few years. There were 5 million honeybee colonies in the 1940s but there are only 2.5 million today, according to the reports.
“Bee pollination is responsible for more than $15 billion in increased crop value each year. About one mouthful in three in our diet directly or indirectly benefits from honey bee pollination,” stated the report.
In May, the Obama Administration announced the first “National Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators.” It aims to reduce honeybee losses in the winter and create more pollinator friendly landscaping.
The USDA report stated that no one cause is the determining factor for pollinator decline, but that it’s suspected to be a variety of environmental factors.
Ryle said he thinks the pesticides being used in today’s agriculture are affecting the bees.
“I’m not a scientist and I haven’t researched it … but some of our biggest problems seem pretty common sense to me. We are polluting our environment and our environment is suffering for it,” he said.
Ryle said if the honeybee population continues to decrease then it will drastically affect the country’s food supply. He wants to create an environment where the holy basil plants are benefitting from the honeybees and vice versa.
“If I can contribute to the solution of protecting the bees from sudden hive collapse and what’s going on right now, then all the better,” Ryle said.
The Ryles sell their organic produce including the holy basil tea every Saturday at the Lansdale Farmers Market and every Sunday in front of their East Coventry home located at 253 Harley Road. For more about the farm, visit the website www.jubileehillfarm.org.
