This fall’s mint

[digitS']

I have not used the flowers, @Cosmo spring garden .

The first time I sowed seeds, it came up in abundance. That was about 15 years ago. It re-seeds and, I suppose, could become rather invasive. There were always a few plants left by the tractor guy, until there wasn't.

I'm trying to imagine Alasgun's wild chamomile. That must be pleasant to be around.

Steve

 

[ninnymary]

Nice harvest. How do you dry yours? We put ours in paper bag in the fridge for a few weeks until nice and dry then remove most of the stems. That way it stays nice and green.

Carol, I would have thought putting it in the fridge would have caused it to mold. Have you ever tried putting the bag on the counter?

Mary

 

[Alasgun]

@Cosmo spring garden, during the season we take enough leaves off the plant to make “fresh” tea, which is real good. Once a pot has brewed take those spent leaves and jam them in your gum like a tobacco chewer would
In the fall we cut the whole plant 4-5 inches up from the ground and hang it like the mint; when dry we strip everything off the stems and store in glass just like the mint.

*A side note, one fall we brought some cuttings in the house to try and root them. Thinking to keep a plant around for winter use. Well, 2 months later they still had no roots but it didn’t matter as they stayed fresh in that glass of water on a window sill and we just used off those stems till it was gone.

 

[3xhhheather]

Oh yes, I have mint all over for this very reason! My favorite way is to make lemon ginger syrup and drink the tea chilled (sometimes with a bit of dark rum ).

 

[Pulsegleaner]

I keep a pot of my mint of choice, Egyptian Mint (Mentha niliaca). On my patio. I use the odd leaf to flavor my teas and lemonades (I'd LOVE to make some limonata [a drink made of mint, lemon and honey] but that uses a LOT of mint, and I don't want to eat the plant to death).

To my surprise, despite being a warm weather mint (well, I assume a mint native to Egypt is warm weather), it has come back every year from both winter and summer overheat and drought (a tribute to how tough mint is)

I also drink a lot of ironwort (Sideritis) a.k.a. Greet Mountain or Shepard's tea. I have seed for that as well (culled from the bunches of dried tea I have bought over the years). I plan to grow that as well, thought being a xeric (dry loving) plant, it may be too moist here.

 

[Marie2020]

@Cosmo spring garden, during the season we take enough leaves off the plant to make “fresh” tea, which is real good. Once a pot has brewed take those spent leaves and jam them in your gum like a tobacco chewer would
In the fall we cut the whole plant 4-5 inches up from the ground and hang it like the mint; when dry we strip everything off the stems and store in glass just like the mint.

*A side note, one fall we brought some cuttings in the house to try and root them. Thinking to keep a plant around for winter use. Well, 2 months later they still had no roots but it didn’t matter as they stayed fresh in that glass of water on a window sill and we just used off those stems till it was gone.

I must be the only person I the world that has killed my mind oregano and thyme

 

[AMKuska]

@Alasgun I just started growing my own mint and chamomile for teas. What is the difference in term of mojito mint and chocolate mint in flavor? Are they worthwhile teas?

 

[flowerbug]

I must be the only person I the world that has killed my mind oregano and thyme

i'm not sure i've killed off the oregano here or not. we planted some many years ago and we also planted Pennyroyal which took over and spread into many gardens over the years before i finally did something about it. the bees love it so i never thought much about how much it was spreading until i actually tasted it and figured out it wasn't the oregano i thought it was.

after a few years of trying to get rid of it all and converting many perennial gardens into vegetable beds i don't know where there might be any oregano left around here at all.

thymes, we've managed to kill off a few of the more ornamental or variegated types.

 

[Alasgun]

I must be the only person I the world that has killed my mind oregano and thyme

?

 

[Alasgun]

@AMKuska Any of the home grown mint’s are better than store bought; the Mojito has a bigger leaf than pepper and chocolate mint, is the most prolific of the mints we grow and is right up there with Anise Hyssop And Chocolate in our preference. Now, trying to describe the flavor, id say it has a more full flavored, complex taste. A bold enough taste, you know what your drinking. Some mints like Apple for example are pretty bland. There’s lots of them and growing methods will impact the taste; these are the ones we’ve kept over the years and they produce well for us, store well and we dont need an acre to supply our yearly tea stock. The mojito bed is roughly 6 square ft, the chocolate & pepper roughly 3 sq ft each and the Anise Hyssop is getting it’s own 3x8 bed this year!

now bear in mind; these descriptions are coming from the guy who makes his own rabbit piss wine!