So, I have this….obsession habit. I believe that what the plants in my garden produce is like a gift to me, and that it is my duty (and pleasure) to use it. I respect and honor the gifts they give me, and enjoy and pass them along to others. With things like the peach trees, or lavender bushes, it’s a pure pleasure, and always seems easy to use the whole harvest.

It’s the mint that gets me.

Because…you know how mint is…right? As my mom likes to say “It has a Napoleon complex – it wants to take over the world!” But the thing is, Mint makes Napoleon look like a feebleminded pansy. Mint calmly, casually, and without apparent effort, steamrollers right over even other fairly invasive herb plants. This spring I surveyed my (utterly out of control) perennial herb bed, watching yarrow, comfrey, lemon balm and mint duke it out. By summer, the results are in – it’s Mint by a landslide!

Which leaves me with a problem. How, oh HOW am I going to use all that mint?

Well, first….there’s mojitos.

Mojito

Mint jelly is delightful – I love this recipe, because it uses fresh green apples for pectin, which also adds a nice extra flavor to the jelly.

This jalepeno mint jelly is lovely too, and very versatile!

You can also dry it for tea, either in big sheets on the floor, like my friend Tina does, or hanging in bundles to dry (see below) like I tend to do.

Maggie Hangs Herbs

My friend Danelle came up with a brilliant way to use fresh mint (spearmint is her mint of choice) to make a frozen tea concentrate. Love it!

How about some mint syrup, to use in mint juleps, in your tea or coffee or hot chocolate or martini, or even poured over some fruit salad, a pound cake, or swirled into your favorite brownie batter?

And wouldn’t homemade mint extract make a spiffy holiday gift for, say……everyone you know?

There’s a few ideas. I’ll get working on those, and pretend that I don’t see the mint creeping, inch by inch, toward the tomato bed…..