[rogruth]

We use a lot of tea, both hot and iced.
I dried the tea bags, opened them and used the tea for ground cover
I mixed the various kinds that we use and get variety in the coloring
if left natural and added color to some.

 

[rogruth]

The tea "cover' has been on my layout for 15 years and I have not noticed any problems.

 

[rogruth]

I agfee on the ballast size used by CSX.

 

[rogruth]

My way was very simple. Laid the bags on paper towels for a few days then tore them open and spread the tea on paper towels to dry more.
I just noticed that various types of tea have slightly different colors, green tea is a little tighter than black and many of the teas made from other substances varied.
Sometimes I just mixed them together and spread them on a base coat of paint. Sometimes I used thinned water based paint on it after spreading.
I just found yesterday that I still have some in a plastic jar. Must be ten years old. Boiling the water for tea also probably kills a lot of "bugs".
If the pieces are too large they can be crumbled when applying with your fingers.
I do 3 rail O but have near high rail type scenery.