But I don't know where to start. I do have knowledge of agriculture, but I'm yet to learn the specificities of growing Camellia sinensis. I also need to develop my knowledge and skill crafting tea itself. To give some background, I'm from Brazil, and I know there are 2 or 3 japanese tea farmers here, they grow var assamica, but honestly, they are not at all that knowledgeable about it. Their tea is OK, to say the least.
I would like to really develop the skill and craftsmanship.
What I'm asking here is for advice from others that might have had experiences with this, but foremost, where should I look for resources and knowledge on tea agriculture (ex.: books, associations) and where could I actually go to learn from actual farmers and producers?
Than this question comes to my mind, would it be a good idea if I wanna make this dream come true, to actually study and learn Chinese? Would it aid in any significant way the access to knowledge and producers?
I think it would also be a good idea, to begin this with a tea business. I have read a bit, and it seems buying from bulk sellers would be a start, but eventually I think it would be important for me and for the business, to have more direct access to the producers themselves. How can I go about sourcing tea? Again, does knowing Chinese helps significantly?
Thank you!
I want to become a tea farmer and producer!
A few other questions you need to ask yourself:
– Are your agricultural skills extensive enough to be semi-professional?
– Do you have farmland, farmland that would be suitable for growing tea?
– Do you have a large sum of money available to stem the basic investment costs?
– Let's not forget economic skills to run a business, later you will need to have design/marketing etc. > more investment
For importing tea to Brazil I recently chatted to a fella from your neck of the woods and he said it is next to impossible to import good quality tea to Brazil due to protective government regulations, even importing via Paraguay or similar did fail for him... Not sure how this fares for importing tea seeds.
Learning Chinese is of course good, but from experience it is tough and takes a while, faster if you live somewhere in China/Taiwan.
Best would be to apprentice and learn in a tea country > which will probably cost a lot of tuition as well, plus count 3-5y (minimum) of learning before you can start something on your own.
Lots of stuff to think about...
But with passion, patience and pecuniary blessings it is possible
– Are your agricultural skills extensive enough to be semi-professional?
– Do you have farmland, farmland that would be suitable for growing tea?
– Do you have a large sum of money available to stem the basic investment costs?
– Let's not forget economic skills to run a business, later you will need to have design/marketing etc. > more investment
For importing tea to Brazil I recently chatted to a fella from your neck of the woods and he said it is next to impossible to import good quality tea to Brazil due to protective government regulations, even importing via Paraguay or similar did fail for him... Not sure how this fares for importing tea seeds.
Learning Chinese is of course good, but from experience it is tough and takes a while, faster if you live somewhere in China/Taiwan.
Best would be to apprentice and learn in a tea country > which will probably cost a lot of tuition as well, plus count 3-5y (minimum) of learning before you can start something on your own.
Lots of stuff to think about...
But with passion, patience and pecuniary blessings it is possible
I don't know what exactly you want to grow but from what I see in Yunnan, local tea farmers don't do anything, just wait for trees to sprout and then harvest, process 
During the dry season they don't even water the trees ( despite having water supply behind the house, like I saw in one village in Bulang for example ) . They take pictures of dry cracked soil, post it on wechat group with words " this year is dry, will be less tea, so the price will be higher". Very neat solution coz they can make money for less work , folks accept the reality of nature disaster and pay the price.
If you talking about the bush plantations, then I believe not different from any other bushes . Needs water, soil with some minerals and occasionally weeding out ( mechanical or chemical ) . Of course if bad weather, some pests might be required, but that all depends on your locations , what bugs will eat your tea. Doesn't have to be the same guys as here we have in China, let alone even in Yunnan different place, different bugs. There are organic ways of course as well, yet, same application as for other green growing stuff.
I doubt you will learn Chinese at the level to be able study agriculture and some chemistry unless you come to China to study the language first ( 2-5y , depends on your skills ) , yet, as I pointed already, I don't think that's really necessary.
Should you be bothered with some cultivars, like Dancong teas, then might be better to visit the location where it grows . Hire some translator and visit the farmers. I think they will be open to share some issues and solutions with you. But , again, they might not be applicable for your soil and your climate in Brazil.
Only essential think is that bushes or trees are planted on the slope for water irritation efficiency and safety purposes ( when too much water , trees not "chocked" with excessive water ). If have large area, it's better to have some distance between trees for roots to spread , and for easier access harvesting ( usually at least 1 - 2 m , depends how tall trees you expect to grow ) .
You can grow it on direct sunlight or in forest.
Other smart stuff to know will be your very know how once you figure out where is the right soil for your varietal. Knowing some details upfront might be an advantage, yet not sure if that important as I doubt you gonna have many options to choose from ( like very different soil options in area where you are planning to grow trees ) .
So it would be try and fail , for which I would recommend get different varietals and see which one will survive and thrive.
I don't know how much info you can find on CN internet , as I never looked for that. I have some smart book about Gushu trees , written by actual professor from agr.university. There are also some tables with numbers , chemical compounds etc. , which I didn't bother to decipher. I just read a bit about trees it self. It's in CN.
For the actual import biz. , as Bok mentioned, just too much hassle. We ship occasionally to BR and customer has lot's of hassle with the customs even if that's not a business parcel but the private one.
During the dry season they don't even water the trees ( despite having water supply behind the house, like I saw in one village in Bulang for example ) . They take pictures of dry cracked soil, post it on wechat group with words " this year is dry, will be less tea, so the price will be higher". Very neat solution coz they can make money for less work , folks accept the reality of nature disaster and pay the price.
If you talking about the bush plantations, then I believe not different from any other bushes . Needs water, soil with some minerals and occasionally weeding out ( mechanical or chemical ) . Of course if bad weather, some pests might be required, but that all depends on your locations , what bugs will eat your tea. Doesn't have to be the same guys as here we have in China, let alone even in Yunnan different place, different bugs. There are organic ways of course as well, yet, same application as for other green growing stuff.
I doubt you will learn Chinese at the level to be able study agriculture and some chemistry unless you come to China to study the language first ( 2-5y , depends on your skills ) , yet, as I pointed already, I don't think that's really necessary.
Should you be bothered with some cultivars, like Dancong teas, then might be better to visit the location where it grows . Hire some translator and visit the farmers. I think they will be open to share some issues and solutions with you. But , again, they might not be applicable for your soil and your climate in Brazil.
Only essential think is that bushes or trees are planted on the slope for water irritation efficiency and safety purposes ( when too much water , trees not "chocked" with excessive water ). If have large area, it's better to have some distance between trees for roots to spread , and for easier access harvesting ( usually at least 1 - 2 m , depends how tall trees you expect to grow ) .
You can grow it on direct sunlight or in forest.
Other smart stuff to know will be your very know how once you figure out where is the right soil for your varietal. Knowing some details upfront might be an advantage, yet not sure if that important as I doubt you gonna have many options to choose from ( like very different soil options in area where you are planning to grow trees ) .
So it would be try and fail , for which I would recommend get different varietals and see which one will survive and thrive.
I don't know how much info you can find on CN internet , as I never looked for that. I have some smart book about Gushu trees , written by actual professor from agr.university. There are also some tables with numbers , chemical compounds etc. , which I didn't bother to decipher. I just read a bit about trees it self. It's in CN.
For the actual import biz. , as Bok mentioned, just too much hassle. We ship occasionally to BR and customer has lot's of hassle with the customs even if that's not a business parcel but the private one.
A short lesson in English about Japanese tea cultivation and manufacturing.
The Story of Japanese Tea: a broad outline of its cultivation, manufacturing, history and cultural values https://a.co/d/7Opg6QP
A good book for all Japanese tea lovers.
The Story of Japanese Tea: a broad outline of its cultivation, manufacturing, history and cultural values https://a.co/d/7Opg6QP
A good book for all Japanese tea lovers.
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DigitalSparks
- Posts: 38
- Joined: Thu Aug 11, 2022 10:47 pm
- Location: Louisiana
I am growing 50 Tea plants currently, to be honest, I have no idea what I am doing but... They are doing amazing so far. These are descendants from the Lipton Tea Research Facility that was located in Fairhope Alabama in the 70's. From what I understand there was a Hurricane (Fredrick) that hit Alabama in 1979 and Lipton decided to scrap the entire project and had the farm bulldozed. Two brothers noticed a huge pile of debris with the remnants of the tea farm in a heap and dug out as many viable plants as possible. I found these in a Nursery located about 20 miles from my house. I planted them this past spring and they have flushed twice already.
wow! amazing! I see you have some forest near by? Try to put some in there. Find at least gentle slope ( soil moisture in forest is higher ). You may try later seed that "cha guo" on the picture, tea tree seed , when it's ready.DigitalSparks wrote: ↑Wed Oct 02, 2024 1:26 pmI am growing 50 Tea plants currently, to be honest, I have no idea what I am doing but... They are doing amazing so far. These are descendants from the Lipton Tea Research Facility that was located in Fairhope Alabama in the 70's. From what I understand there was a Hurricane (Fredrick) that hit Alabama in 1979 and Lipton decided to scrap the entire project and had the farm bulldozed. Two brothers noticed a huge pile of debris with the remnants of the tea farm in a heap and dug out as many viable plants as possible. I found these in a Nursery located about 20 miles from my house. I planted them this past spring and they have flushed twice already.
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DigitalSparks
- Posts: 38
- Joined: Thu Aug 11, 2022 10:47 pm
- Location: Louisiana
I have some small wooded areas near me, I'm kind of in a pocket there is a river in my front yard and a large levee system behind me with neighbors on both sides. I planted this mainly as an experiment to see how well the climate in Louisiana would grow (or not) tea plants. It started as a need for hedges between me and my neighbor just as a soft barrier. And after looking around I thought why not make some hedges from tea bushes? I do plan on cloning my plants if they continue to do well and propagating them elsewhere on my property.
If things go extremely well, I have 40 acres of land that is all hill country on all 4 sides with the peak in the center of the 40 acres. It has young trees planted on it now, so it would likely make a great place to grow tea in the future.
This is absolutely amazing! How are you going to process? Can I buy someDigitalSparks wrote: ↑Wed Oct 02, 2024 1:26 pmI am growing 50 Tea plants currently, to be honest, I have no idea what I am doing but... They are doing amazing so far. These are descendants from the Lipton Tea Research Facility that was located in Fairhope Alabama in the 70's. From what I understand there was a Hurricane (Fredrick) that hit Alabama in 1979 and Lipton decided to scrap the entire project and had the farm bulldozed. Two brothers noticed a huge pile of debris with the remnants of the tea farm in a heap and dug out as many viable plants as possible. I found these in a Nursery located about 20 miles from my house. I planted them this past spring and they have flushed twice already.
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DigitalSparks
- Posts: 38
- Joined: Thu Aug 11, 2022 10:47 pm
- Location: Louisiana
Haha! Thanks for the offer! This is just a hobby project for now, but I appreciate the support. I’ll probably start by processing the first few batches as white tea since it’s the least complicated and a good way to get a feel for handling the leaves. I do have a 36" carbon steel wok that I picked up during a past cooking adventure, so a pan-fired green tea might also be in the cards once I get more comfortable with the process.
Right now, the plants are still quite young. I’ve been pruning them back to promote a bushier growth habit, which should result in more leaf production and make harvesting easier down the line. From what I’ve read, it’ll be a couple more years before they reach a size where I can start experimenting seriously. As it stands, I know just enough to be dangerous—so I’m taking it one step at a time and learning as I go!