One of the ways I amuse myself in boring meetings and such, is to plan a small (2-3) acre farm which would support myself and Celtling in a SHTF (“Stuff” hits the fan) scenario. I’mjust talking about basic food and comfort if utilities and food transport and such were interrupted for a year or so.
The intention is that I would not “farm” all the time, but would have things like fruit and nut trees maturing in readiness, and maybe a stocked pond for protein. (I’m thinking FW shrimp . . .)
Anyhoo, one thing has me stumped. What caffeine producing plant can I grow in the Virginia/Carolina’s region? I understand that you need two frost-free years to get any beans from a coffee plant. What about tea? I heard once about a South American tree with tons of caffeine in the bark (this may be from the movie “Medicine Man”) does one exist? Would it grow here?
Buying a year’s supply of coffee would be one of your lesser expenditures that would be involved in preparing yourself to survive a year without modern conveniences.
Ephedra, however, does not get its kick from caffeine, although it is a stimulating drink.
Tea requires at least 50 inches of rainfall a year, with the best flavor from higher elevations up to about 5,000 feet (although it does grow slower at high elevations). Supposedly, there is some growing in Cornwall, UK and a patch in Charleston, South Carolina. Historically, there have been reports of tea being grown in Maryland and Pennsylvania, though not commercially. The Charleston plantation had produced commercial quantities of tea.
So… if you’re much north of the Carolinas tea growing will be difficult and iffy, and you need both rain and somewhat high ground for best effect. Thus - possible for there to be a post-apocalyptic North American tea industry, although I agree, purchasing a year’s supply might be a heck of a lot easier if you’re only anticipating a year-long interruption in civilizations.
I’m not sure of the exact requirements, but yerba mate might grow in the Mid Atlantic with some babying (it’s evidently mostly grown in northern Argentina/southern Brazil).
Too bad you’re not addicted to nicoteine instead. That’s pretty easy.
I’ve grown green tea, Camellia sinensis, well here in Piedmont NC, and my neighboring nurseryman, David Parks, of Camellia Forest Nursery, has grown enough to supply a local restaurant. Another specialist, Michael Mc Conkey, of Edible Landscaping,is near Charlottesville, VA, and grows and sells it there. I don’t know of anyone growing it as a commercial crop north of Charleston, though that may be because tea is rather labor intensive, and cheaper to get supplied from other parts of the world.
Yaupon, as Borg Hunter says, is quite easy to grow in the South, and has the added benefit of being a great source of food (berries), for native wildlife.
Here’s another link about the potential of Yaupon as a caffeine source. The taste is not as good as tea, but that could probably be tweaked.