Tea Story

Having had a great time in Sri Lanka watching wildlife, several highlights immediately come to mind.

Patterns in the Tea planting

One I had not expected was the importance of tea to the island, and the wonderful landscape it gives.

Family run Tea Estate

As we drove around we passed Tea Estates with familiar names, many of them named after British towns and reminding of colonial times.   Many had signs along the road advising that no trees should be felled, the water courses were protected, no chemicals were used on the land or the wildlife on the estate was protected.   All great to see, and with pictures to illustrate the message, hopefully the people have a great respect for their natural heritage.

On a far smaller scale, we also saw individual smallholdings and farms where a family were living from Tea production, with fruit and nut harvests supplementing their income.   In one area we found a home with mango, banana and Areca or betel nut trees - any fruit not needed for the family would be sold and the betel nuts are sold for good prices, being used as a traditional drug in many countries.   Although proven to be harmful to health it is a common habit in much of India and Asia.

Peter demonstrates a Flush

Many Estates still use the traditional method to collect the Tea; where a basket is suspended from a band across the forehead, the leaves being thrown over the picker's head.   We saw many ladies walking to and from work with their baskets on their backs.

Sri Lanka has a heritage of high quality tea which is hand picked.   "Two leaves and a bud" or a Flush are plucked from the end of a branch, and then bagged for collection.    We were lucky to be walking through a village at Tea Collecting time.   Lorries arrived to pick up all the bags of tea which has been "plucked" that day by the family.   All ages were involved with the process, and it was great to see a mother being helped by her children, and them growing up appreciating how important this was for the family.

Family with their daily crop 

Once the bags are loaded onto the lorry they are weighed and the amount logged so that each family is paid for the weight of leaves at the end of the month.    The price paid to the family is 64 rupees per kilo, or 31 pence.

During the tea growing seasons, the bushes can produce a new Flush every seven to fifteen days, so plucking is an every-day job as each area of the Estate is covered. 

The Tea Lorry

The larger Estates had planting in serried rows following the contours of the hillsides, and they added a very attractive addition to the landscape.

It was great to have the opportunity to see where my favourite drink comes from.