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If you don't like to pay the high price of it at the store, save $200 for just 2 or 3 hours work. I was able to collect 3 lbs of mint and it lasts me 6 months.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
Hardiness Zone: 8a
cd4life from DFW Texas
No herb garden is really complete without a mint plant or two. As many gardeners here will tell you, killing off your mint is the least of your worries. Mint isn't technically an evergreen in zone 8, but it is a hardy perennial that will gladly return to take over your garden year after year. In fact, I recommend finding a way to contain it next spring. The easiest way is to pot it up and drop the pot back into the ground, but this time in a location away (preferably far away) from the rest of your garden beds. Even when growing in pots in the ground, mint runners are tenacious enough to pop out the drain holes and start new plants.
Ellen
I can tell you that gardening in Michigan is very different from Texas; we already have eight inches of snow and my herb garden is covered in fluffy white! I harvest mint as soon as the leaves are big enough, and before flowering has occurred. One thing I have learned about mint, is that it is VERY hardy, you don't have to worry about hurting it by harvesting too much or too early. I have had mint take over and I started pulling it out like an invasive weed, threw it into the field and it took root out there!
My mint plants are ever green.
Pick what you can, to use now, but don't worry about your plants. Mint is extremely hardy. I live in Arkansas and have had mint growing in my yard for years. It freezes and dies in winter, but will grow back next spring with a vengence. Trust me--you cannot kill mint!
You may want to contain it though, or it will take over your property. The roots go deep, and a tiny 1/2" piece of stem will root into another plant. It also will go to seed. Soon, you may be sorry that you ever planted it. You will have to sift through every inch of soil to get out all pieces to get rid of it. Then do it again the next year to get the ones you missed and those that grew from seed. And probably the next year too... Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love mint. Just beware. Like the other posting said, if you just throw it on the soil somewhere, it will grow. I gave some to a friend who kills everything, has the worse soil around, and never waters anything. It grew for her.
I've also read several postings that growing mint around the house will keep ants away. Maybe our Southern-ants are a stronger breed, but that does not work around here. I have ant mounds living in my mint beds. And yes, they still come into my house.
Let me also add to this: mint is extremely hardy, even in Michigan winters. The following spring the mint grows from it's many roots and seeds, and is as tough as a dandelion!
Is fresh mint tea considered green tea or is there a special process that needs to be done?
By Martha L.
Mint is an herb, so it is considered herbal tea. Mint is very, very easy to grow. I live in northern Ohio, and my mint comes back every year and thrives. I have not made hot tea with it, but I do put it in my iced tea, and I cook with it, and it is wonderful. No special preparation is required. One word of caution - mint will spread like crazy and take your garden or yard over.
Green tea is actually from the same species of plant as regular black tea. I used to keep a pot of mint growing on the windowsill to make tea. I'd just snip off a few fresh leaves and let them steep for a few minutes in a mug of hot water, with a little sugar or honey added for sweetness. You can strain the leaves out if you like but you don't need to. To dry the leaves you can spread them on a cookie sheet in a low oven and bake until they're crispy and dry. You can freeze chopped mint in ice cubes too for adding to drinks or recipes. :-)
You can buy pure peppermint teabags in the store, that's what I usually do. I want to start growing my own peppermint for my tea, I bought a plant last summer & didn't get it planted, so I'll start this summer hopefully.
On a side not, we had a huge mint plant in the back yard when I was a kid - our beloved Samoyed husky considered it his favorite place to pee - we didn't use it for our tea needless to say, LOL!
I've tried growing mint in a pot (I live in an apartment) and it doesn't seem to grow. It does okay for a week or so, but then dies. I thought at first I was taking too many leaves from it; I'm not a patient person. What can I do to help the process in a pot?
By TxsRedhead from DFW, TX
Plant food, daily watering, having several pots of mint in your home at various stages of growing. 1 can be the plant you take leaves from because it's ready, and the others can be the various stages of growth, and re-growth, so that you'll always have fresh mint on hand... especially if you're impatient!
It is difficult to germinate mint from seeds. Does anyone have some tips as to how to grow mint from seed?
By Asad from Karachi, Pakistan
If you really want mint, like for the next 100 years, get a cutting from someone who has one. Once established, mint is almost impossible to get rid of! Plant in a pot set on concrete, not dirt! It will send roots down and over to find new places to come up.
Check out these photos.
I love to go out to my little garden in front of our shed. The beautiful mint and the seeds on top, are just beautiful! Everytime I go out there, I spend a few minutes admiring our little garden!
This is picture of mint I have in my flower beds. I like to make mint tea with it, winter or summer. Very good.
