mint

I decided to grow fresh mint as the focal point in two of my flower pots this year.  It is growing beautifully and I’ve been so excited to use it, but other than tea, I needed some inspiration.

New Nostalgia has an amazing & growing Facebook community.  I love being able to have real conversations with you all over there.  I knew if I asked them what to do with all my fresh mint that I would get some inspiration, and they totally came through for me!

Here are some of the great ideas discussed over there:

Jill B. — “With peas!!  A little olive oil, mint, and peas blended on toasted pieces of bread.  SO YUMMY!”

Amy V. — “I just love it in my water!”

Maggie R. — “I am drinking water with crushed mint” She also adds chiffonade of mint to fresh fruit, adds it to her coconut oil for washing her feet & wants to add it to a pitcher of water for a mint hair rinse.

Queen S.– “The leaves are pretty couple;ed with a strawberry half as decoration on a cake.  All around the sides if it’s a layer cake…I love my mint!”

Jessie F. — “I like to eat it with Thai food, drink it in water, tea, mojitos, use as garnish on watermelon, and in salads.”

Tracy H. — Strawberry & avocado salads with chopped mint and balsamic dressing.”

Dona P. — “I like mint pesto for chicken.  I use it just like basil–mint, pine nuts, a bit of Parmesan, a bit olive oil, a bit of garlic.  Add some acid (vinegar, lemon, orange juice) for a great salad dressing.  Also great with watermelon.”

Crissy F.– “Pack it into a water pitcher (the kind with a spigot in the bottom), add a sliced lemon, and fill with water and drink all day.  I often run out of mint in the summer and do the same with lemon balm instead.”

Heidi D. — “I put them in my smoothie for helping digestion.  My version is 3/4 unsweetened almond milk, 5-6 mint leaves, a tablespoon of flax, hemp & chia seeds, two packets of Truvia, two big handfuls (4 cups loose pack) baby spinach, half an avocado, 1/2 cup frozen cherries and 5 or so ice cubes. Tastes like a Shamrock Shake.  Also, use fresh mint in taboulleh salad, gyro sauce for chicken or salmon, and mint freezes well, too.”

Rachel K.– “Add to water, tea, lemonade.  I use it in my bath (like fresh lavender).

Ana T. — “Tea!”

Karin T. — “Mojitos! OR virgin mojitos if you don’t drink.  In a Vietnamese summer roll with tofu.”

JoAnne H. –“I freeze mint leaves in ice cubes with lemon and lime slices to put in my water throughout the summer.”

Kristy L. –“Mojitos!”

Andria H. — “Mojitos! And my kids pick and eat it right off the plants..fresh breath, that is, until they pick the green onions.”

Arn’t those great suggestions?  I love that Mojitos got 4 shout-outs. I love the idea of putting it on my watermelon, making a mint pesto/salad dressing, and LOVE the healthful ingredients in the Shamrock Shake. I also had to chuckle at Andria’s little ones and their breath!  I have the best community here at New Nostalgia,  it makes me so happy when we can all hang out on Facebook and chat together.  Come join us!

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{my pots last year.  They were missing the fun height of mint}

If you end up using mint in your own pots or garden, be aware that it is a super invasive plant.  It loves to grow and take over all the other plants.  To help with this, you can keep mint in a pot and bury the pot in the garden.  If you are going to use mint in your flower pots along with other flowers, keep it in it’s own pot, or do what I did, which is buy a mint plant that is in a peat moss pot, and rip the bottom off, keeping the sides in-tact.  This will keep the mint from growing outward, and taking over the rest of the flowers in the pot.

I told you it was fast growing!  These pictures were taken just one week apart, and that is even after I harvested some of the larger leaves for tea.

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What about you?  How do you use fresh mint?  Leave it in the comments and I might have to write a part 2!