How I use herbs - mint, peppermint and spearmint
Mint is a member of the Lamiaceae family and originated from Europe. There are many different varieties of mint, and in my garden I grow peppermint (Mentha x. piperita), spearmint (Mentha spicata), and another one that I just knew as "mint", but I think its actually Egyptian mint (Mentha niliaca). All the varieties have similar care requirements and similar properties, so I will just write about mint in general.
 |
| I think this one is egyptian mint |
 |
| And this is spearmint |
How does Mint grow?
Mints have a habit of invading garden beds, so I keep mine in pots, even then they sometimes manage to throw out a root or a stem and try to get out into the garden. Mint prefers moist conditions and prefers to stay cool, so keeping it in a pot also helps me to move it around into suitable positions as the weather changes. Over winter, I put the pots in the sun, but in summer I hide them under the shade of other plants. This can make the plants grow quite spindly due to lack of sunlight, but they recover when the temperature cools and I can put them back out in the sun.
Mints have a habit of invading garden beds, so I keep mine in pots, even then they sometimes manage to throw out a root or a stem and try to get out into the garden. Mint prefers moist conditions and prefers to stay cool, so keeping it in a pot also helps me to move it around into suitable positions as the weather changes. Over winter, I put the pots in the sun, but in summer I hide them under the shade of other plants. This can make the plants grow quite spindly due to lack of sunlight, but they recover when the temperature cools and I can put them back out in the sun.
 |
| Peppermint hiding under the chilli bush |
Mint requires regular cutting to keep it growing well, which is no problem as the excess leaves can be dried, I find that I get the best harvest in spring and autumn when the conditions seem to be just right for mint in my garden. Occasionally when the soil in the pot sinks down, I will tip out the plant, add more potting mix or compost and repot the plant. Regular doses of worm wee also help to keep the plants healthy. I keep the pots in my garden, and they are usually full of worms, so they are virtually part of the garden soil. As long as mint is kept moist and cool, it will grow vigorously with very little care required.
Mint is propagated easily from a cutting, just dig up a stem with some roots attached and replant in another pot, it will soon grow and multiply.
What’s Mint good for?
All mints contain volatile oils made up of menthol and menthone. If you use peppermint essential oil, that is the main constituent, along with some terpenes. If you use the entire leaf, dried or fresh, you also mucilage, tannins and flavenoids. Mints are powerful carminative agents, which means they relax the stomach and add digestion. That is why mint flavours are often used after a meal.
Primarily I use mint for making tea. I regularly trim the plants (all varieties) and dry them. If I only have a small amount of leaves to dry I just rinse the leaves and dry in a colander, but for larger amounts I use a dehydrator. I don’t remove the stalks, I just dry them until the leaves are crumbly and crumble the stalks and leaves into a jar. Mint tea is refreshing and good for digestion. It is quite sweet and other bitter herbs can be added to the tea without affecting the taste. I use mint as a base and add many other herbs, I drink several cups of this tea every day because I like the taste.
Mint is propagated easily from a cutting, just dig up a stem with some roots attached and replant in another pot, it will soon grow and multiply.
What’s Mint good for?
All mints contain volatile oils made up of menthol and menthone. If you use peppermint essential oil, that is the main constituent, along with some terpenes. If you use the entire leaf, dried or fresh, you also mucilage, tannins and flavenoids. Mints are powerful carminative agents, which means they relax the stomach and add digestion. That is why mint flavours are often used after a meal.
Primarily I use mint for making tea. I regularly trim the plants (all varieties) and dry them. If I only have a small amount of leaves to dry I just rinse the leaves and dry in a colander, but for larger amounts I use a dehydrator. I don’t remove the stalks, I just dry them until the leaves are crumbly and crumble the stalks and leaves into a jar. Mint tea is refreshing and good for digestion. It is quite sweet and other bitter herbs can be added to the tea without affecting the taste. I use mint as a base and add many other herbs, I drink several cups of this tea every day because I like the taste.
I also use fresh mint to make a few different sauces, mint goes particularly well with lamb, but these can also be used as salad dressings:
Mint sauce – apple cider vinegar, honey, chopped mint and a little salt
Yoghurt sauce – yoghurt, garlic, lemon juice, mint and coriander (if I have it, diced cucumber is nice in this too)
And I add mint leaves to fermented fizzy drinks, particularly orange or lemon based drinks, during the fermentation.
A few chopped mint leaves can be nice in a salad too.
Do you grow mint? What do you use it for?
Mint sauce – apple cider vinegar, honey, chopped mint and a little salt
Yoghurt sauce – yoghurt, garlic, lemon juice, mint and coriander (if I have it, diced cucumber is nice in this too)
And I add mint leaves to fermented fizzy drinks, particularly orange or lemon based drinks, during the fermentation.
A few chopped mint leaves can be nice in a salad too.
Do you grow mint? What do you use it for?
Share this
Recent Posts
eBooks By Eight Acres
View all
Related Posts
-
Eat what you grow, or grow what you eat?
Most conventional vegetable garden planning advice says to "grow what you eat", to look in your fridge for ideas of w...
-
Posts about Growing Vegetables on Eight Acres
I started my first vegetable garden in 2008 after I was inspired by a DVD in which Peter Cundall (from Gardening Aust...
-
Weird vegetables in my sub-tropical garden
I've had some questions about the weird vegetables in my sub-tropical food garden, so here are some details for you. ...
-
Tips for starting vegetables from seeds
Its time to start planting for spring, and the cheapest way to grow your own vegetables is ito start from seeds (and ...
-
Our Food Forest after one year
We finally planted our food forest one year ago (you can read all about it here). It was a long time in the planning....
-
Developing our food forest
What is a food forest? A food forest is a permaculture concept, best explained by the following quote from My Smart G...
-
My new raised garden beds
We have been in our "new" house in Kumbia for nearly two years and thing I've missed the most is not having a proper ...
Leave a comment