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June 2005
Mints were
used by the Greeks and Romans for flavoring food and as a
medicine. If you like to drink mint tea or use mint in your
recipes, you might want to consider growing your own mint
plants. Growing mint in your garden is so easy, as unlike
other culinary herbs, mint practically grows itself. In fact,
if you're not careful, mint can take over your whole garden,
as in the right conditions it can be a bit invasive. Mint
prefers partial shade and moist, moderately rich, slightly
acid soil, but it will grow in any light from full sun to
full shade, isn't that picky about soil type and is drought-resistant.
Pinch stem ends off each spring to keep the plants bushy
and encourage regrowth. At the end of the gardening season,
prune plants back to near ground level and top-dress with
compost. They will start to look ugly anyway, so you'll want
to do this if for no other reason than appearance. Mint will
also grow well in a pot, so if you are open to the idea of
container herb gardening, or want to keep control over the
space your mint appropriates for itself, this is a great
plan for you to use when growing this herb. Mint plants do
flower if they get enough sun, but the small pink or white
flowers are not that showy, and the main reason to grow the
mint plant is for the mint leaf scent.
Because
I like cooking with mint, in my herb garden, I have several
varieties of mint: chocolate
mint, grapefruit mint, lemon mint, banana mint, silver mint
peppermint and spearmint. Each type of mint has a totally
different flavor, and there are many different recipes using
mint that you can try to take advantage of the overtones
of each mint variety. Some are great in stir fries while
others are terrific in drinks or as garnishes. Mint often
has been used to season meats (lamb especially), vegetables
(especially potatoes and peas), and in salads, tea, jellies,
and of course in numerous incarnations of the famous Mint
Julep recipe. Chocolate Mint (Mentha piperita cv.) doesn't
totally smells nor taste like Chocolate, but reminds me more
of an after-dinner Chocolate Mint. Great dried and added
to black tea or hot chocolate, Chocolate Mint also is terrific
if used in chocolate desserts or sweet breakfast bread. I've
got some of the recipes using mint (including a Mint Julep
recipe) that I've featured on my site listed in the left
sidebar of this page.
To harvest
mint, pick leaves in the morning when the oils are strongest.
Crushing mint leaves releases the oils and the pleasant,
strong, soothing flavor, if using in a recipe, I always recommend
slight crushing (if using whole leaf) or chopping prior to
use.
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