This year I visited the Chelsea Flower Show on the wettest, coldest summer day ever. We huddled in the overcrowd pavilion with everyone else trying to make the best of a bad day. We shuffled around inside inspecting, admiring and being intrigued by the gorgeous displays and got drenched when we ventured outside. Eventually we gave up and as we left we fell into a Pizza Express on our way home.

We ended our meal with something I thought was really rather nice. A cafeteriere of steaming hot freshly made mint tea. Vibrant green leaves swirled in clear, hot water and released mint vapour as we stirred and poured it into white cups. It lifted our flagging spirits. 'Why' I thought 'do we pay a fortune for herb teas when we can make them from common or garden herbs?'

Some dried herbal tea infusions are refreshing and taste good. I also think the packaging of brands such as Clipper is lovely to have in the kitchen. However there is something really special about making your own herbal infusions straight from the garden. As you pick mint or brush past flowering fennel the aromatic oils which give the herbs fragrance, smell truer and fresher than anything you buy in a packet.

To make herb tea

Making your own herb tea is easy. All you need are a few sprigs of fragrant herbs such as mint, lemon verbena, fennel heads or even thyme which could be sweetened with a little honey. Fennel tea can be made from the flower heads as shown in the picture above.

Give herbs a quick rinse, place in a tea cup or infuser and douse in boiling water.
Leave to stand for 5 minutes.
Strain into cups and serve.