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I have an isolated bed and I just dehydrated some lemon balm and after realizing how much I liked processing it so I can brew a hot tea, I was thinking of going wild. It's a 2 foot by 8 foot bed that is isolated from the others and am not worried if they populate the bed heavily.
These are what I have:
Spearmint
Chocolate Mint
Apple Mint
I'm wanting to make sure I sample a few of the more common types, as I know just googling a bit there is over a hundred type of mints, but I've narrowed it down to these types I would like to plant or replant:
Orange Mint
Pineapple Mint
Black Stem Peppermint
Ginger Mint
Lemon Balm
Anyone wanting to chime in on these? Both bad and good is fine. I was gonna plant 1 of each cause I wanna taste them all but I've read Pineapple mint doesn't taste great but smells great. So those are the little questions in my head.
I like the chocolate mint. I once filled an old toilet with it as a planter. It was really a funny story in the end.
I have tried all the above mentioned except the apple. A raised bed is best to help keep it contained. You know something with a side about 12" above ground. That way you can snip runners for use and they won't be as sandy. Makes it easy to harvest
Other plants you might want to try is pineapple sage. The smell is wonderful. Grapefruit sage the hummingbirds love. Both will turn in the shrub type plants with thick woody stems.
I have stevia also but it takes so many leaves to sweeten a pitcher of tea. I use a huge hand full of leaves in my coffee maker when I make tea and I still need a little sugar.
Thing about stevia is it's an annual at least here, so I would be without the sweetener. I've been using pure cane sugar, it's not much better than processed sugar but at least the minerals and other nutrients isn't being extracted and bleached.
I was gonna let the mints go wild cause after drying some out I can't believe how much I enjoy the smells after I dried the leaves and it just makes me wanna start brewing teas.
So I wanted to make sure I sampled at least a few varieties.
Well, if anyone is interested I bought this for brewing either cold or hot teas. I'm the kinda guy that like brewing liters or gallons of teas. So larger brewing containers is preferable to me. This has been the cheapest price I've found so far, walmart cost 25, and so does amazon. This was $20 + free shipping I can't complain.
That's cool. Pardon the pun
I use to make sun tea all the time and since I work I just have been slacking. I use my coffee maker. I have often wondered if tea would grow here and how well it would do. Also I don't know anything about processing it...much like the stevia LOL!
I need to clean my mint bed.
I dig a hole and bury a coffee can with holes poked in the bottom then plant my mint in the can. That way I have the mints I want but contain them so they don't grow where I don't want them.
I don't think strawberry mint is hardy in my zone. But I am going to try chocolate. How dose it taste?
I have peppermint planted in a large pot. I keep it trimmed and I love it all winter. I use it with chamomile and sage in a tea for coughs and congestion.
I am going to try growing German chamomile this year as well.
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