With Kathy Cooney-Coker from The Sow and Grow Garden Club

HOW TO GROW MINT HERB

Perennial, Mentha piperita

If you'd like to grow mint in your herb garden, there are plenty of varieties to choose from. Actually, there are about 3,500 varieties of mints. By far the most popular, are Peppermint and Spearmint.

Native to the Mediterranean area, aggressive mint plants are easy to grow. Mint plants produce bright green leaves on bushy plants. Flowers include white, blue and pink. Hardy perennials, they will thrive for years with little or no maintenance. Most varieties grow 12-24 inches.

Mints are commonly found in home herb gardens, in beds along the house, or in containers. Mints can be grown indoors as houseplants, too.

HOW TO GROW MINT PLANTS:

Grow Mint in full sun to partial shade. They do well in average soils. Mint plants withstand droughts and heat.

Mint are grown from seed. Get an early start planting it indoors as a houseplant. Or, directly sow seeds into your garden in the spring. Space seedlings or thin plants to 12" to 18" apart

Established plants are prolific propagaters, producing suckers in the second and following years. They can also be grown from cuttings.

Mints are aggressive growers, crowding out other plants if given the chance. Give them plenty of space away from other plants in your garden. Border edgings to contain plants are a good investment.

Fertilizer is not usually required, except in the poorest of soils.

Water plants only during extended droughts.

The oils in mint are in glands in the leaves. Crush the leaves to release the oils, for a pleasant, strong, and soothing flavor. Once dried, store it in an air-tight container, away from other herbs.

Harvest leaves at any time. They can be used fresh, dried, or frozen. Pick them in the morning when the oils are strongest. Spread leaves out to dry in a cool and ventilated area.

When drying mint, you will notice some of the flavor is gone. Hang mint in bunches in a brown paper bag until leaves are dry enough to crumble. Fill an airtight jar and it will keep for 1 year. You can freeze mint by placing on a cookie sheet and freeze until solid-then place in a plastic bag and store in freezer for up to one year.

The only problem mint may have in growing is rust. This is a reddish orange patch on leaves. It is caused by temperature flucuations. The plant will usually come out of it if it is only a small patch of it, but if a large patch appears, cut the plant back.

NUTRITIONAL PROFILE:

Mint is a powerful antioxidant containing many vitamins and minerals, and easy to integrate into your daily diet. Fresh mint leaves contain:

Calcium | Copper | Fluoride | Folic Acid | Iron | Manganese | Phosphorus | Potassium | Selenium | Vitamin A | Vitamin C | Vitamin B1 [Thiamin] | Vitamin B2 [Riboflavin] | Vitamin B5 [Pantothenic Acid | Vitamin B12 [Cobalamins] | Vitamin C | Zinc

USES FOR MINT:

Mints and oils of mints are used for oils, used in cookies, teas, candies, jellies, chewing gum, flavoring for medicines, toothpaste, ice cream, liqueurs, and much more.

Mint is often used to sooth upset stomaches and on occasion, for toothaches.

It has also been used for headaches.

Mints are a standard for breath mints.

THIS IS ONLY A PARTIAL LIST OF THE MINT PLANTS THAT ARE AVAILABLE.

MOST COMMON MINT PLANTS:

SPEARMINT MINT PEPPERMINT MINT CHOCOLATE MINT APPLE MINT LEMON MINT LEMON BERGAMOT MINT LIME MINT LIME BERGAMOT MINT ORANGE MINT ORANGE BERGAMOT MINT CORSICAN MINT BANANA MINT MOJITO MINT GINGER MINT ROSEMARY MINT HABEK MINT SWEET BAY MINT PINEAPPLE MINT GRAPEFRUIT MINT KENTUCKY COLONEL MINT EGYPTIAN MINT BASIL MINT CATNIP MARSHMALLOW MINT PENNYROYAL MINT-NOT EDIBLE-POISON IF EATEN WILD BERRIES MINT CRISPA MINT-DESCRIBED AS A DOUBLEMINT-MOSTLY SPEARMINT AND A TOUCH OF PEPPERMINT LAVENDER MINT

HYBRID MINT PLANT:

PINK CANDY POPS MINT FRUIT SALAD MINT LEMON BALM MINT SISTER JULIE'S WINTERGREEN MINT JIM'S CANDY LEMON-LIME MINT ANISE HYSOP MINT ORGANIC KOREAN LICORICE MINT LEMON MONARDA MINT BRITTNEY MINT PATTY MINT PURPLE MAJESTY SALVIA MINT CLARISSA'S MILLENNIUM MINT FRUIT SORBET MINT ICED HAZELNUT MINT OREGANO THYME MINT FRUIT MINT FRUIT SENSATIONS MINT CANDIED FRUIT MINT HILLARY'S SWEET LEMON MINT JESSIE'S SWEET PEAR MINT JULIA'S SWEET CITRUS MINT SPICE MINT MARILYN'S SALAD MINT EMERALD AND GOLD MINT EAU DE COLOGNE MINT SILVER MINT FUZZY SPEARMINT MINT CHEWING GUM MINT MARLEY MINT MOUNTAIN MINT MOROCCAN MINT YELLOW DOTTED MINT CURLY MINT SWISS RICOLA MINT HORSE MINT AQUATIC MINT AMERICAN CORN MINT

AND REMEMBER THIS IS ONLY A PARTIAL LIST, DID YOU EVER DREAM THERE WERE SO MANY DIFFERENT VARIETIES OF MINT AVAILABLE ??