DIY Life

I admit it: I am a chocoholic. I probably eat a tiny bit of chocolate every day, usually a section or two of the super-dark organic Dagoba Eclipse.

And eating it is not enough. I like to make Cocoa Patchouli Body Butter and slather it on my hands and body. I sniff cocoa absolute just for the fun of it. Heck, I just got immense pleasure from writing about it! Now I am thinking about planting a chocolate lover's garden.

I didn't know that some flowers actually come in a rich cocoa color, like cosmos and daisies (called the chocolate flower), and what's more: they actually smell like chocolate. I love that these are perennials and will reseed themselves each year.

One of my favorites, chocolate mint, makes the most amazing tea; it spreads so wildly in your garden that it's nearly invasive.

You can even get a chocolate climbing vine and a chocolate mint geranium that smells like a peppermint patty! So check out Pioneer Thinking's full article on planting a chocolate lover's garden for all the details of the chocolate flowers you can have for your own outdoor chocolate fix!

You may not know it, but there could be a tea garden growing in your very own yard. Many weeds make excellent herbal tea, and they are medicinal to boot.

In my yard, I have a variety of chocolate mint that is my favorite tea, but I also have rosemary and sage that come up every year. Oh, and the plethora of dandelions, but I suppose I shouldn't admit that.

Country Living has some fresh plant blending ideas that you can use to make your own herbal teas. They include weeds, herbs and even edible flowers. They also include an extensive list of edible -- and drinkable -- plants, some of which may surprise you. I've never thought of steeping young birch leaves or pine needles, but according to Country Living, they'd make some great tea.

So, whether for medicinal or culinary purposes, fresh plants can make delicious tea. Now, who is baking the cookies to go with this delicious fresh tea?

(via Lifehacker)