Tea Cultivation, Culture & Ceremony

From living plant to carefully poured cup—with Jennifer Maksymetz and Belinda Schroeder

Yes, you really can grow tea on Salt Spring Island.

Join us at Pipe Rabbit Farm for an immersive exploration of tea—from the living Camellia sinensis plant to the culture, craft and ceremony held within every cup.

Belinda Schroeder has been cultivating tea at Pipe Rabbit Farm for a decade. We’ll begin in her tea garden, exploring different cultivars and learning about the growing conditions and practices that support tea cultivation here in the Pacific Northwest.

From the garden, Jennifer Maksymetz will guide us into the rich and varied world of tea culture. Together, we’ll explore tea varieties and terroir, artisan production methods, history, health benefits, traditional and metaphysical understandings of tea, and the living art of Gongfu tea ceremony.

Participants will also enjoy a thoughtfully curated flight of seasonal artisan teas. Through aroma, flavour and sensory experience, we’ll deepen our understanding of how a living plant becomes an extraordinary cup of tea.

Whether you’re a gardener, a devoted tea drinker or simply curious about what might be possible in our coastal climate, this workshop offers a rare opportunity to experience tea from root to ritual.

October 23, 2026

Register for the October workshop

Location: Pipe Rabbit Farm, Salt Spring Island

Registration: Sliding-scale options are available.

Meet the facilitators

Jennifer Maksymetz

Jennifer Maksymetz of Tea Mistress has been studying tea and practising Gongfu tea ceremony since 2000. While living in Taiwan, she was introduced to tea culture through her Taiwanese tea-aficionado family, beginning a lifelong journey into the world of tea.

Jennifer has travelled through many of the world’s celebrated tea regions to study with tea masters, meet farmers and source exceptional teas. She co-founded Jade Spring Teas—the official tea shop of the Journal of Chinese Medicine—and creates contemporary tea experiences that explore tea as a living art form.

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Belinda Schroeder

Belinda Schroeder is a certified organic farmer on Salt Spring Island with a passion for helping people grow their own food. She is a retired Master Gardener, gardening workshop facilitator and former host of the radio program Grow Your Own.

Belinda maintains gardens for local clients and coaches others as they transition from conventional to organic gardening—and from ornamental landscapes to productive, edible ones. At Pipe Rabbit Farm, she has spent the past decade discovering what it takes to cultivate tea in our coastal climate.

Come walk through the tea garden, gather around the tea table and experience the remarkable journey from living plant to cup.