What Can I Do With My Mint Plant?

Culinary Uses

• Use pruned stems and leaves to add flavor and aroma to foods, such as lamb and beef. Mint leaves make a fine garnish. Make mint butter for grilled salmon. Combine ½ cup of dry white wine, 2 tbsp. honey, 1 tbsp. chopped mint leaves, 1 clove of minced garlic, and 1 tbsp. minced onion in a mixing bowl. Put the salmon in a baking dish and cover it with the mint mixture. Turn the salmon every 20 minutes or so and let it marinate for about two hours. Grill and enjoy.

Mint Beverages

• Add a festive touch to beverages by making mint ice cubes. Put 2 to 3 mint leaves into each cube of an ice tray. Fill with boiling water, let the tray stand for 10 minutes, then put in the freezer until the cubes are frozen solid. Use the cubes for ice tea, lemonade, sparkling and fruit-flavored soda pops. Make a hot tea by simply putting a handful of leaves in a teapot and allow it to steep. Cool off during the summer with a Cuban-style Mojito. Take a small bowl and add 10 mint leaves, 2-tsp sugar, 2-tbs of limejuice and 2.5 ounces of rum, mix and muddle the ingredients together with a pestle. Pour the ingredients into a tall glass filled with Ice cubes (the mint ice cubes would be extra special), and top the drink with club soda.

Mint Facial Masque

• Make a facial masque. Take a handful of mint leaves, an 8 oz. container of natural yogurt with nothing added and a quarter of a cucumber. Put the ingredients in a blender to form a purée. Apply it to your face and leave it on for about 15 minutes. Rinse it off and blot your skin with a soft towel.

Propagate Cuttings

• Mint plants have deep root systems, which are easily divided to create new mint plants. Place new plants in other areas of the garden or give them as gifts. Dig up the plant, lay it on the ground and cut the plant into two or three sections. Transplant the cutting into a shady garden area.

Control

• Mint plants are invasive. To control growth, take a 5-gallon plastic pot and cut out the bottom. Dig up the mint plant and widen the hole so the pot will fit inside. Make sure that the hole is deep enough so the top of the pot does not show. Put the pot in the hole, add the plant and replace the soil. This prevents the rhizomes from spreading. Frequent pruning helps the plant from spreading too wide and keeps it fresh looking and bushy.