Photo courtesy of NC State Extension
We have gathered holly and mistletoe for Christmas time, although not for many years. Years ago I saw some enterprising young people selling mistletoe at one of the mall parking lots. I believe that would still be a good way for anybody to make extra Christmas money that had access to lots of mistletoe. When Dad, a brother, and me were up on the hill side of the family farm my brother found these low growing red berries and didn’t know what they were. Dad had us pick a handful of them and give to him. He ate em and laughed! He called them mountain tea berries. They do taste a lot like teaberry chewing gum. That was over 60 years ago, but anytime I run across mountain tea berries (wintergreen) I eat the berries or chew the leaves.
—AW Griff (Larry Griffith)
Over the years we’ve talked quite a bit about folks selling greenery at Christmas for extra money or gathering for decoration purposes. We’ve discussed everything from moss to mistletoe. In fact Larry left the above comment on one of those posts from several years back.
Recently I was surprised to learn you can buy things like, mistletoe, teaberry and even moss on Etsy. I suppose folks buy the plants to get a start at their house, to use in terrariums and such, or for decorations.
Living on the north side of the mountain I have a plethora of different kinds of mosses, but it’s been ages since I seen any teaberry plants.
Last night’s video: Speak Like an Appalachian – Mountain Talk Examples.
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today is the 30th…looks like you might get some SNOW
It was good to see one of Larry’s comments. I miss seeing them and hope his family is doing okay.
Regina-Larry passed away earlier this year. You can read about it here: https://blindpigandtheacorn.com/rip-larry-wayne-griffith-march-12-1948-march-29-2023/ I miss his wonderful contributions to the blog.
Tipper- Thank you 🙂 I read about it when you posted on the blog. I was just wondering how his family was doing since his passing. I still have his address and thought about checking in with them to see how they are doing. I know it’s especially hard on those who’ve lost their loved ones this time of year. I miss my loved ones who have gone on something fierce.
Great post!
Teaberry chewing gum is sold at Papa’s General Store in the downtown area of Conway, SC. Many other ‘old-time’ favorites can also be found such as Clove, Black Jack, candy cigarettes, fireballs, etc.
If I had a dollar for every mountain tea leaf I had eaten, it would be a sizable sum. But I have not lived where it grows for 40 years. Growing up we never used it for Christmas greenery though it is well suited to that use. It would be great in wreaths. A plant that grows with it, or nearby, (in southeast KY anyway) is box huckleberry. It also is a low-growing evergreen that would also make Christmas greenery.
We have teaberry here, and I often take one leaf to chew. A very pleasant flavor.
My husband and I took a brisk morning walk out an old, dirt road that runs through the woods this morning—and I kept my eyes peeled for anything that looked like tea berry. My husband said he’s seen it in the woods and chewed on the leaves before. I saw other green things in the midst of all the winter brown—holly trees, ground pine, ferns, moss and galax—no tea berry. It’s so beautiful to see the green plants nestled among the brown trees and ground—showing that there is still life in the winter woods. The picture of the tea berry plant above is quite beautiful. I would love to see some growing.
Teaberry gum was my favorite flavor when I was a kid. I’ve never seen tea berry growing in this area. We do have lots of mistletoe.
I remember Teaberry gum; I always liked it. Your Appalachian talk
last evening was terrific. I’m from Indiana but surely had a past from there as
many of the terms I knew and have used from time to time. I surely loved Paul and Granny’s
Silent Night. Thank you for all that you share. God bless you and yours.
I have always loved Teaberry chewing gum. This brought back memories again. You are so gifted at doing that. I pray everyone had a good Christmas and will have a wonderful New Year. Love and prayers to Granny and Little Mamas 1 & 2.
I am assuming that what Larry calls “low growing” means less than a six inches tall. The Teaberry I know is almost like a creeping vine. When you go to pull it up, its root (or maybe rhizome?) extends several feet beyond the presumptive plant and may have several other “plants” attached along its length.
I could be wrong altogether!
I don’t think I have ever seen a teaberry plant but it sure is pretty in the picture. I do remember chewing teaberry gum and how it tasted but it’s been years ago.
Teaberry gum was one if my Dad’s favorites. It was really good.
We used to nibble on a little white berry whose plant looked just like the Teaberry’s. We often found them together. Daddy called them Snowberries. They tasted almost the same.
I never thought about looking on Etsy for Mountain Tea Berries. Hopefully, while I’m looking, I will find some Horehound too. There’s plenty of mistletoe around here but we never use it to decorate and no enterprising young folks will sell it at the mall.
It’s been a few years since I’ve seen people in our area selling any type of fresh greenery, holly or mistletoe. I haven’t noticed the Christmas tree lots selling greenery either this year. They did in the past, but not this year. I don’t think I’ve ever seen or ate any tea berries. I did use to chew Teaberry gum, but it’s been many years since I’ve chewed it. I haven’t seen it sold in stores I’ve been to for years, but I’m sure it’s being sold somewhere because I’ve heard people say they still buy it. It was the best flavor of gum, so I can imagine the berries are even better tasting.
I use to do crafts and sell at the fall and Christmas Craft Shows. One year we made corn husk dolls to order. They were dressed or carried something about the person they were made after. We had little seamstress dolls, yarn knitting dolls, dolls with hats that said Coach on them and all sorts. We would curl their hair (yarn) around a plastic knitting needle and wet it and put it in the microwave for a few seconds to set. Well we also needed something that would draw people in to our booth, so we decided at the last minute to gather mistletoe and put in little plastic lunch bags and tie with a pretty red ribbon. We sold all we had and even gathered more that night to sell the next day. $2.00 a bag. It sure did surprise us, but it always surprises me what people will buy. And oh I have not thought about teaberry gum in a good while. I guess you can still find it somewhere. Have a great day!
Very interesting! it’s been years since I have thought of Teaberry gum. I can still taste it. I don’t know anything about the plant. It is beautiful though.
Anyone else remember the Teaberry Shuffle from the TV ad for the gum?
I don’t know much about teaberry but we have 7 holly trees in our and my son’s yard. Three of them are female and have berries on them. We got them started years ago when a friend of ours said he had a bunch growing on his land and we could come up and dig a few of the small ones. We got three and planted them. Once you have one that has berries, you’ll have more. The birds eat them, and you know the rest. You’ll soon have them coming up everywhere. And my son goes and shoots Mistletoe out of trees. When I was young, I remember buying Mistletoe from street vendors in Charleston. On my way home from work, I’d get off the bus to shop and get some.
I don’t think I have ever saw a teaberry bush, they may not grow here in SC. I do remember teaberry chewing gum. I haven’t been to a Mast General Store in many years but if it is still the same, you can still buy Teaberry chewing gum and a lot of the other old time candies in their stores. The candy is loose and stored in wooden barrels. I think it is sold by the pound. The older post of “backbones and ribs for Christmas” brought back memories of eating backbone ribs, turnip greens/sallet, cracklin cornbread and a baked sweet tater several times a week after our hog was killed around Thanksgiving when I was growing up. We never ate the ribs at Christmas.