The weather has been wet and rubbish, the plot is waterlogged, seeds haven't germinated, plants have been munched by slugs and snails, and some pesky little critter has been nibbling off all of my unripe strawberries and hiding them under the leaves in little piles.
At least I have lots of mint. It's reliable and it's tasty, and I really should do more with it.
Last year, my friend Miriam and I held a mint-tasting event (well, we had a barbeque on my allotment and there we sampled about eight varieties of mint and were amazed by the differences between them). My favourite has always been water mint - the type that grows wild by streams and lakes. It has a sort-of smoky/earthy flavour, a bit more sophisticated than the others in my opinion. I have it on my allotment now (which is almost like a lake) and yesterday I picked a big bagful to make water mint wine, which will be interesting at the very least!
As well as growing it on my allotment, I'm guerilla-gardening some mint on a patch of ground close to my flat. This plant was originally part of a mojito from a cocktail bar in town. I rescued it, then forgot all about it and accidentally left it in my handbag for 24 hours where it got slightly crushed and a bit thirsty (oops!). Still, when I remembered I put it in water and it rooted (mint is *so* easy to propogate this way, I've never known it not to work). As you can see, it's now enjoying a healthy teetotal life outdoors with plenty of fresh air and sunshine...
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My allotment also looks like a swamp, populated by more slugs that I have ever seen before. They'd eaten the tops off of all my bean plants, so I took great delight in filling a large tub with every slug I could find and bringing them home for the chickens and ducks (they get the really big ones that are too slimy for the hens)!
ReplyDeleteI've just added Moroccan mint to my garden; it makes lovely tea and either that or lemon balm disguises the taste of nettle tea enough so that hayfever-suffering husband and eldest daughter will drink it.
I love Eau de Cologne mint too, though I only put it in the bath. I've just read 'Into the Garden, Cook' by Constance Spry and she recommends it for mint sauce. Not sure about that...
I've found a way to deter slugs from larger seedlings like beans and squash. I cut the top and bottom off a big plastic bottle, then make one edge really jagged and sharp by cutting zigzags into it. This guards the seed/ling as it germinates and grows - perhaps I should take a photo to show what I mean.
DeleteI haven't tried Moroccan or Eau de Cologne mint, but I do have lemon balm and it does indeed make a lovely tea :)
Glad the mojito mint survived. Maybe to be used in future mojitos ... ? ;)
ReplyDeleteMaybe! :)
DeleteThat is really nice that you rescued the mint. I would have thought the alcohol would kill it!
ReplyDeleteI don't think it's possible to kill mint...
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