Mud Season and Iced Tea

It is spring in Vermont, which I'm fairly certain has never happened before in March. In fact here's documentation from a little over a year ago of what March normally looks like in Vermont.

Our house last year, aka buried. 3/7/11

The view of our back deck 3/9/11. 

The tunnel my husband dug for us to get out. 3/7/11

Now let's contrast that with this year. It's been near 70, people are wearing shorts. I wore a tank top today. We haven't built a fire in weeks, there is no snow to be seen and mud season is officially here with a vengeance. What's mud season you ask? Mud season is a little talked about period of time where Vermonters steer clear of dirt roads unless they're in their truck. Ruts appear everywhere and cars sink up to their frames in quicksand like goo. No one wears real shoes because that would be cruel to the shoe. If you live in Vermont you have a variety of muck boots that you wear whenever you go out. When you see someone stuck on a dirt road in heels you say "They ain't from around here," because a real Vermonter would have had mud boots in the car to change into. Let's review my collection:

Ankle high BOGS- good traction for beginning and end of mud season. 

Knee High Hunters for mud season at it's worst. Impossible to take off by myself while pregnant.

Insulated Muck Boots. For those days when the mud is a little chilly.

Ok- I got distracted. So spring is here. 

Bulbs are actually sprouting before May.

Clothes hung outside actually dry- not freeze!

This calls for some iced tea. I have a deep love of mason jars. This time of year I have an abundance of them. We've eaten our way through many of the canned items from the end of last growing season and I haven't been canning a lot since there is nothing "extra" right now to put up.

I am pregnant though, and not drinking enough liquids can lead to early contractions. The last thing I want is 4 weeks of bedrest like I had with my daughter. Water is getting boring so I make mass quantities of iced teas to stock in the fridge.

It's the perfect weather for iced tea!

Gather your mason jars. Make sure they're clean and that you have lids for all of them.

Boil water. I use an electric kettle. Put the tea bags you want in each mason jar. I use two per jar. A clothespin is handy to make sure the tags don't fall in. I put the tea bag wrapper under the corresponding jar so that I know what it is until I have the chance to label it.

You can also use loose tea if you have a tea ball or tea sack to steep  it in. 

Fill up the jars halfway with the boiling water and let it steep for six minutes. This is also a good time to add honey or sugar if you're so inclined. 

When six minutes is up take the tea balls out (I leave the tea bags in) and add cold water to the top of each jar. 

Label the jars so that you know what kind of tea they are.

Store them in your fridge until you're ready to enjoy them!