From the idea to the final tea
Toggenburg Oswego? The Oswego tea plant originated on the American continent and is planted in Europe predominantly as a garden plant. But it exists nonetheless: The Toggenburg Oswego tea plant. We have had it since 1988:
The Oswego tea plant is excellently suitable as a herbal tea because of its good active substances that are similar to thyme and its very pleasant taste. Morga, a tea processor and specialist of domestic- and exotic tea plants recognized the potential of this plant early and launched a project to clarify whether this plant could be cultivated in the Toggenburg region as an agricultural product.
197 kg of Oswego tea were already harvested from Morga’s own experimental field in 1988. This harvest was processed into fine-cut tea with the newest technologies and offered as double chamber tea bags in health food stores.
After the successful farming experiments, Morga established partnerships with local farmers. The Abderhalden family in nearby Starkenbach, Alt. St. Johann enthusiastically planted a 10-acre large field and already harvested 121 kg of tea in the first year.
Another field was planted by the Wenk family in Wildhaus in 1992. This field has already produced 734 kg of Oswego tea.
The success with the finished product – the Toggenburg Oswego tea – confirmed that Morga was correct with the intensive cultivation and the various experiments. The product was already then and is now a very loved product not only in the Toggenburg region but with tea gourmets that no longer want to do without the exquisite flavor of the Oswego tea plant, cultivated in the Toggenburg valley.
Morga is still committed to the partnerships of 1990. The Oswego tea plant therefore not only has a permanent place on Morga’s tea selection, bur first and foremost also in a few Toggenburg fields. [/column]
From the plant into the tea bag
Planting is done every year in the spring and in late fall. In addition to normal care, such as weeding and removal of sick branches, the plants have to be replaced every 4 to 6 years to avoid lignification.
The leaves are harvested from the middle of July to the middle of August. The Oswego shrubs are already 180 cm tall by then. The outstanding quality of the Oswego and the constant increase of the harvest shows that the climate in the foothills of the Obertoggenburg Alps is ideal for the Oswego plant.
After harvesting, the two families deliver the tea to Morga. The shrubs are carefully examined and are then processed to make tea. The tea leaves are first cut up with a cutting machine. They are subsequently dried gently and naturally and in the next step they are filled into tea bags and put into packages.
Hardly anything has changed with this process up to now. The machines that we use became larger and faster, but the taste and the active substances, but also the cultivation and gentle processing are still the way they were in the beginning.
The next time that you happen to be in Alt. St. Johann and notice a hidden shimmering red field, you will know for certain that you have landed in Toggenburg!
