It Really is Worth a Mint to Me...
This year with the wet weather we have had an abundance of mint growing - wild mint, cat mint, spearmint, chocolate mint, strawberry mint, peppermint and another mint I was gifted last year from a friend's homestead.
Bruno by the Pots of Mint
On our land with the changing weather patterns and wet years we are seeing a succession of growth in the forest. In the low lying areas which was a black spruce forest, many of the old spruce and tamarack are falling over being replaced with the willows and red osier dogwood I planted and some mountain ash on the higher areas that the birds planted. In the under-story we are seeing fields of marsh marigold where we never even had one before ( they are quite beautiful) and the wild mint. I love the fresh smell of the mint along the forest trail and on the pathway to what I call my middle garden patch! In that garden patch I had left one of the garden beds to the wild mint and it was fabulous this year, full of blooms which the bees loved! The mint blossoms along with the clover flowers helped to attract the bees to my garden and increase the pollination of the other flowering vegetable crops.
Close Up of Wild Mint Blossom
Mint makes a wonderful addition for bee and butterfly gardens just beware that it spreads with runners and is best to have it contained so it will not take over neighboring plants. Cut the bottom out of a pot and sink it into the ground for your mint plants or put some sort of barrier in the ground to prevent the runners from going into areas you do not want it.
Bumble Bee in Wild Mint
I like to pick some mint for tea. My favorite for tea is the rich tasting chocolate mint. It kind of reminds me of peppermint patties!
Pot of Chocolate Mint
I also like the chocolate mint in smoothies.
Chocolate Blueberry Mint Smoothie
Ingredients
1 cup Blueberries
2 Tbsp ground cacao nibs (or adjust to your taste)
1 Tbsp honey or I grind some stevia powder in with the cacao nibs for sweetening
A good handful of hemp hearts (helps to make the smoothie creamy)
Small handful of fresh mint leaves, smaller amount of dried or a few drops of peppermint essential oil
2 cups of water
Place all the ingredients in the blender and blend on high til smooth. Enjoy!
Peppermint tea is great for tension headache - make a strong batch of ice peppermint tea, dip in a wash cloth and use that as a compress where you are experiencing your headache.
For migraine sufferers - you can find some relief by rubbing a few drops of peppermint oil on your temples.
The cooling and soothing effect of the menthol in peppermint can also be used to sooth sunburns. Use that strong ice peppermint tea on some cotton pads to gently apply to the sun burnt areas to give relief.
Peppermint
Probably the mint that most people are familiar with is the spearmint, often used in flavorings for gum, toothpastes and such.
I love to use spearmint for a nice refreshing drink, in my
Lettuce Pear Mint Smoothie
Ingredients
A big handful of lettuce leaves
4 or 5 big mint leaves or a few sprigs (adjust to your liking)
2 pears peeled, cut and cored
2 cups water
Place all the ingredients in a blender and blend on high til smooth. Enjoy!
Mint is wonderful to have around so you can pop a few leaves of mint in your mouth to chew for fresh breath!
I like to grow pots of mint (penny royal is best for this) by my door to help keep ants and flies away. You can also hang sprigs of mint by the doors and windows to deter the ants and flies or make an insect repellent by mixing 1 part essential oil of mint to 10 parts water and spray around the doors and windows or on a path ants have been following. This has the added benefit of freshening up your home with the lovely smell of mint. Mint is a lovely addition to potpourris too!
Try adding some essential oil of mint into your cleaners to freshen your home or car when you clean.
Homemade Mint Floor Cleaner
1 cup white vinegar
1 gallon water
3-5 drops mint essential oil
Combine and mix well and you will have a natural cleaner that fills your home with the wonderful smell of mint!
One of my favorite smelling mints is the strawberry mint! I just love to rub it's leaves and breath in it's wonderful aroma!
Strawberry Mint in Bloom
H-m-m! I think I'll check what benefits mint has in aromatherapy.
With a quick Google search I found from Ashley Miller over at Livestrong.com
Peppermint essential oil is commonly used by aromatherapists for its uplifting, invigorating properties.
I sure found that to be true when I breath in the aroma of mint!
Plus I found this tidbit from MightyNest
It also has antibacterial, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, insecticidal, antispasmodic and carminative properties. The health benefits of peppermint oil include its ability to treat: Indigestion: One of the oldest and most highly regarded herbs for soothing digestion is peppermint.
We always keep some peppermint or the chocolate mint which is a variation of the peppermint, on hand for upset stomach.
Let's not forget that tantalizing cat mint that acts just like cat nip to your cats, making them all frisky, yet has a calming effect on humans - try a cup of calming catmint tea.
JJ Smelling the Catmint
A cool trick I learned was to sprinkle dried mint on your potatoes to help prevent them from sprouting! I learned this from the Hort and Ag people over at the University of Saskatchewan. They give workshops telling of their latest findings from their research and fruit and vegetable garden trials.
Other Uses for Mint
- Chop up some fresh or dried mint leaves to add to your peas, green beans, carrots or cauliflower when you are cooking them. Add them in in the last two minutes of cooking. Or add them to a chocolate chip cookie dough, a couple tablespoons of finely chopped mint will add a lovely mint flavoring!
- To clear up your sinuses and congestion try a mint steam treatment. Simply add some drops of essential oil of peppermint into some boiled water in a pot, place your head over the pot with a towel draped over it to capture the steam. Breath in the steam to help break up the congestion. Added bonus - this will give you a stimulating facial too! 2 in 1!
- For a lovely foot scrub which will also help to relive pain (the menthol in the mint has pain relief properties and also a cooling effect) try mixing 1 cup sea salt to 1/3 cup of olive oil plus six drops of peppermint essential oil and use this to scrub your feet then rinsing it off.
- For hiccups add to lukewarm water 1 tablespoon of fresh squeezed lemon juice, a pinch of salt and a few mint leaves. Sip on it and the antispasmodic action of the mint should relax the diaphragm and end the hiccups.
- Here is one for your pets - Homemade Flea Repellent - Use 2 parts spearmint, 1 part thyme, 1 part wormwood and pack the mixture into a small pillow to place in your pet's bed or favorite resting spot.
Thanks to Mother Earth Living for these extra uses for mint!
Also thank-you to @riverflows for coming up with this Natural Medicine Herb Challenge - see details here, which has inspired me to look deeper into the wonderful herb - mint!
All photos were taken with my Canon PowerShot A495
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Good to see Bruno is guarding the mint there.
Chocolate mint! I grew chocolate mint once, and actually killed it. Yours is looking great!
Awesome dog, too.
Ha! I actually find the chocolate mint to be quite a robust mint that sets out lots of shoots to help it spread.
Our dog Bruno is awesome! Thanks for noticing!
Lovely collection of mints, I added an orange mint to my garden this year
What a co-incidence!! I just went to a local nursery, one who advertises on my Facebook gardeners group in the local community. I told him I was the owner of the page and he gave me a tour and a free peppermint - the last one was lost in a garden reconstruction.
LOVE the recipe for your mint smoothie!!
I'm with @artemislives - larb with mint sounds divine.
I didn't know there are so many varieties of mints that can be grown. I'm wondering, are the chocolate and strawberry mints hybrids that came about by people mixing plants together, or are they naturally occurring?
The chocolate mint comes from the peppermint plant which I read is actually a mixture of spearmint and watermint. I'm not sure where the strawberry mint comes from.
Most of the variations will not come true from seed and have to be propagated with cuttings or divisions. Mint is very easy to propagate this way and if folks live in Canada i would gladly share a piece of my mint with them.
Thanks for the info. I've been to Canada only once, but I have fond memories of that visit to Tobermory, a quaint village on Lake Huron. I went there for an advanced scuba course. It's still the clearest water I've ever been in, thirty-some years later.
When my sister planted the original herb garden in 1992, she put in at least 6 mint plants. None in pots or contained. The ones that survived eventually cross bred and hybridized to a bland mint, that tried to take over the garden.
I ripped it out everywhere I found it and planted new mints, in pots, widely spaced. I've tried to get chocolate mint to grow here a few times, but it apparently doesn't like being in a pot here. I also tried to grow mountain mint, but it died.
Currently I have a large bed, sort of contained behind 2 layers of garden edging (2 deep) of peppermint. I have a couple pots of spearmint, and 1 pot of catmint.
My cat will sniff the catmint if there's no catnip around. But she doesn't decimate it like she will catnip by rolling in it.
Interesting that the mint cross breed and turned into a bland mint. Glad you've got some new mints growing, contained in pots and separated from each other.
My cat prefers the catnip too but that keeps dying out on me where as the cat mint is more robust and keeps propagating itself - to the delight of JJ!
It was pleasant and unexpected to meet the cat in the photos))
Love this information @porters! I remember my husband and daughter planted mint in our garden one year....it took over! It was almost impossible to stop the movement so pot planting is definitely the best. I love all of the medicinal uses. We have ant issues here and I am definitely going to try some mint as a repelent, what a great idea! Strawberry mint? I haven't seen that, I bet it smells amazing!
It was new to me too last year. I love the aroma of the strawberry mint and will make sure I have a potful on hand. I would gladly share some cuttings from the strawberry mint to anyone who lives in Canada. Do you live in Canada?
Wow, that is a lot of mint! That is something I’ve never tried growing they do look fun.
Really love the color and flowering shape of that Wild Mint Blossom. Looks like you have an entire field of them.
Yes the wild mint is growing abundantly this year with all the moisture we have been having. I love having this native plant around and so do the bees!
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