In theory, you can start eating peppermint from the very first leaf that appears. Of course, that wouldn't be too good for the plant, would it? But once you have enough leaves to be useful, you can harvest as much as you like - but it's always a good idea to harvest no more than one-third of the leaves at any one time, then let the plant recuperate before harvesting again. Frequent harvesting encourages the plant to grow more leaves and prevents the plant from getting leggy.

These rules apply to most of the popular culinary herbs.

BTW, you WILL keep your mint in a pot, won't you? Members of the mint family have very aggressive root systems that keep trying to take over the planet!

My first thought was. "after you rinse the dirt off." I don't imagine the really old ones would taste like much and probably be tough.

Daisy: REAL GOOD advice on keeping the mint reined-in. 10 Years ago I planted mint in several areas just to get something planted that might stabilize the slopes. Now I rip-out armfuls every year just to keep ahead of the mint. Maybe I should create some liqueur made of mint just to use up lots of it. hmmmmmmm?

Westelle, ask and you shall receive!!

Mint Liqueur
2 cups any fresh mint leaves, except eau de cologne
3 cups vodka
2 cups white sugar
1 cup water
1 teaspoon glycerine

Creme De Menthe (1)
1 cup vodka
1 cup water
90g mint essence
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup fresh mint leaves

Combine the vodka, water, mint essence, and mint leaves. Cover and let mixture infuse for 10 days. Strain and add sugar. Shake vigorously until the sugar is absorbed. Let stand overnight. If the green is not deep enough, add green food colouring. If you want clear creme de menthe, buy clear mint extract and omit the mint leaves.

Mint Syrup
2 cups water
1 cup mint leaves, loosely packed
4 cups sugar
food colouring, optional

In a saucepan, bring the water to the boil. Remove pan from heat, stir in the mint leaves, cover, and let steep for 5 minutes. Strain out the leaves. Bring the liquid to the boil again and add the sugar, stirring until it is dissolved. Simmer for 20 minutes, or until the syrup is reduced by about one-third. Add colouring if desired. Pour the syrup into small, sterilised jars and seal. Place the jars in a boiling-water bath and process for 5 minutes. Other herbs can be prepared in the same way.

Use mint leaves only, stems removed. Measure 2 cups of snipped leaves and put with the vodka in a large glass jar with a non-metallic lid. Stand for two weeks, shaking occasionally. Strain and discard leaves. Combine sugar, water and bring to the boil, then cool. Add to mint liqueur base, add glycerine and stir to mix. Pour into a sterilised jar and leave for at least 6 weeks to mature. Sip a small amount to aid digestion either before or after a meal, or enjoy with after-dinner coffee.

My favorite way to use mint is to add to the usual green/black teas when I'm making fresh tea. I have a small infuser that I pack tightly with mint leaves - either fresh or dried, then pop it into a cup of boiling water - then mix together with the regular tea that is brewing. It is especially fresh tasting as an iced tea combo.

Also - if drying, just hang a bunch upside down in the kitchen corner until dry, then crumble into a clean jar and cap. It is easy to over-dry in a dehydrator, and it will taste like grass, if it is. If it is necessary to dehydrate, I remove it just before complete dryness, allowing it to finish at room temps. This seems to work with other herbs as well.

I notice that mint sometimes develops rust at later stages, so perhaps it is best not to wait to harvest then.

Bejay

Amen to that bit of advice, Daisy. BEWARE of the mint family. I too planted one plant maybe 9 yrs ago and it has been a real hassle to reclaim that area each year. They are virtually indestructable and creep and run everywhere they possibly can. It sure smells good to walk around there or weed, though ;P Lori

I started peppermint seeds about 35 days ago. They germinated pretty quickly but the growth post-germination seems to be slow. There are several tiny plants in a 12 inch pot. The tallest one is about 1.5 inches tall and is quite frail looking.
Is this normal?
I keep the pot outside in the south- facing patio.
Please help if you know about these.

I notice most of the herbs I grow seem to like a bit of shade in our zone 10 climate. They do well under the fruit trees, but they are also planted directly in the ground.

You might try moving them to a less sunny location, and see if that might be to their liking, and give a light feeding with compost tea or fish fertilizer.

Bejay

I'm also in zone 10 and I keep my main mint crop in a 5 gallon nursery container. My secondary emergency crop is in a semi-shaded area. The 5 gallon container gets more water and fertilizer. Tea leaves, vegetable peels, fish emulsion, etc. and it grows like a weed. I do not even need my shade garden mint. It sits in full sun. It is only about 8 to 10 inches high because I keep it trimmed to that height. With respect to comments to put the mint leaves in a tea ball for steeping, don't bother! I don't rinse it as some of the oils wash off the leaves and it gets watered every day or 2 days. Just pluck of a stem about 4 inches long and drop it in either before the hot or boiling water or after. Leave it in as long as you like. The stem keeps everything together, makes a pretty presentation, and keeps the leaves from floating all over. Regards - Jim in So. Calif.

Oh, daisy, I hadn't thought about liqueurs.......

I've got a Chocolate Mint and a Pineapple Mint..in pots, of course! LOL

Both sound good as a liqueur. Thanks for the recipes.

One question on the first recipe. Are there any specific instructions? I've made berry liqueurs before by combining all the ingredients in a gallon jar and letting it sit on the counter for a month or so (shaking every so often), then straining out the solids. Similiar process for this???

Deanna

Suggest you head to the HERBS forum too, as there are quite a lot of mint posts there.

Thanks, Bejay!

My backyard / culinary mint is in pots, but this thread gave me the idea to plant mint in our front "yard" which is a 6-foot square raised bed surrounded by raised concrete, and beyond that sidewalks on all side. Currently it has some scraggly ivy. If I plant mint here will it crawl under the sidewalk like bamboo, or am I safe? It would be great to have something less ugly in with the ivy, and the smell would be nice.

Also, will different mints mix themselves together into weird hybrids, or can I plant them side-by-side? I might wait till it heats up and the wilted herbs go on sale at the natural foods store. Last year they had several types of mint left.

Melissa

I return to say thanks to Bejay one more time.
My peppermint pot is doing very very well. its growing almost profusely.
I guess my plants were too tiny and tender earlier to bear the houston sun, so I moved them to an area which got a little screened sun, and it worked!
And all this in a matter of 15-20 days!
I am soon going to harvest some leaves for making a cooling and soothing yogurt dish very popular in India, particularly in hot months. Best part is that it can be made in 5 minutes. Works great with bread, pita, tortillas, or rotis. Here are a couple of recipes if anyone is interested:

1. peppermint raita (rye-taa)
1 cup plain (not sweet or flaovred, that is) beaten yogurt
5-6 fresh peppermint (or more if you are big fan like me) or spearmint leaves- washed and mashed in a mortar
finely chopped - 1/4 cup each of tomatoes and cucumber and onions(if you like)
Salt, pepper and ground cumin to taste

Mix all these together in a bowl, and garnish with a sprig of corriander (cilantro). Serve cool with hot chapatis, pita bread or tortillas.

2. peppermint buttermilk

for 1 person:
1 cup plain buttermilk (not sweet or flaovred)
ground fresh peppermint leaves (3-4/per cup)
salt and ground cumin to taste

Stir peppermint, salt and cumin in buttermilk in a glass, serve cool. Makes a great cooling and soothing drink in summers.

Peppermint is considered good for digestion in ayurveda.

I received a packet of peppermint seeds from a tea company, which i planted in a pot. From what i've read peppermint stems should be purple. All the leaves and stems are green on mine, with a bit of purple scattered here and there. The taste of peppermint is not very strong either. What could be the cause of this? I thought maybe a vitamin deficiency in the soil??

Suggest you post on the HERBS forum. Some mints do not grow from seeds.