Friendly, Fragrant, Mint

 If you grow your own new potatoes, then you must grow your own mint to go with them! This is possibly the easiest herb to grow – too easy at times. The first thing any mint grower will say to you is “don’t plant it directly into the ground, because you’ll be plagued by it forever!” Once it is established it will spread as far as it can, and come back strong every year – even if you think you’ve pulled it all out! I have some in a planter next to my back door, and one day last summer I noticed that it was growing out of a gap in the wood. It is an amazingly tenacious plant. Officially it likes its roots in shade and its leaves in sun, but if you ask me you can grow it anywhere, it just doesn’t care.  

 

I have ignored professional advice and put a bit directly into the ground. It was an awkward corner in double shade, where nothing would grow and it looked barren and boring all year round. I had an inkling that mint and wild strawberries might like to battle it out, so I shoved some in and waited to see what would happen next. They both love it there, and both plants have colonised this bit of soil nicely, so at least I have summer greenery there. It is a battle between the mint and strawberries and this makes it good fun. Mint can deter pests such as mice, so any strawberries that grow, hidden from the birds among the mint leaves, stand a better chance of survival. I just have to be firm with it regarding boundaries, and have a good cull at the end of every summer. It’s good exercise and the mint that I pull out can be used. I can freeze the leaves so that I have mint tea even in winter, and pot up a couple of the roots to refresh stocks. I always have a pot in the greenhouse, so that I have a supply of fresh leaves for as long as possible.  

 

I can’t remember where I got my first mint plant. Once you have one you never need another as it spreads so gladly. You can even get one of those pots from the supermarket potted herb shelf and use that – the plants are so cheap it’s not worth the hassle of growing any from seed – unless growing from seed is what you want to do. I have the basic common garden mint but there are varieties, if you like your mint to have a bit of a flavour. You can get chocolate, lime or apple mint, but I am a traditionalist so I haven’t tried them. I don’t think that I want mint sauce on my potatoes if it has a hint of chocolate. 

 

Basic care of your plant includes the following – keep it damp, always pick the top leaves and pick regularly to keep the plant growing fresh leaves. It might flower in the summer (great for pollinators) and if it does, cut the flower stems back after the pollinators have had a go at them.  If you are growing it in a small pot, pull the roots out and divide them at the end of the season, or it will get pot bound and sulky. The plant will die back over winter, but the roots will just be slumbering, and will push out new shoots and leaves in the spring, and keep going until around October or November.  

It’s such a good plant to have at various points in the garden. I like to pick leaves off and chew them as I make my garden inspection on a summer evening. If I want mint sauce, I pick a couple of handfuls and use scissors to snip the leaves up as finely as possible into a jug. I then add a tiny pinch of sea salt, a teaspoon of sugar and then cover the mint with vinegar. For mint tea, I use around half a dozen leaves and half a teaspoon of honey – pour on hot water and leave to steep for a couple of minutes. You can use the leaves in salad and in summer drinks – try freezing a leaf in your ice cubes. A sprig of mint even adds a nice bit of lush greenery to a garden posy of flowers, if you like a rustic cottage garden effect as I do. I just can’t imagine a summer without this gorgeous smelling plant.  

Please have a read of my gardening novella, Temporary Accommodation. Click here.