Following Susan’s suggestion, I went to peruse herbs yesterday. Veronica and I had a lovely time amidst the lovely plants and water fountains before we ended up at the herb tables. I didn’t bother with parsley and cilantro, because they’re annuals, and it said they can’t tolerate temperatures below 50 degrees F, so that seemed pointless. But, they had lots of mint, which was what I was most anxious for. I had no clue what kind I wanted. I didn’t know what kind is sold in the grocery store as plain old “mint”, neither did the sales associate that I asked, so I bought four.
Veronica and I munched on them in the car on the way home. Nate happened to be home when we got there, and when I told him I didn’t know what kind of mint was sold in the grocery store he said, “spearmint”, very matter-of-factly. I swear the man knows everything. (He really does).
Anyway, this morning I had a wonderful time in the sun on my back deck planting them. Abner had a good time stealing mouthfuls of peat moss and herbs whenever he got the opportunity. Dork.
From left to right…
Apple mint, Spearmint, Lemon Balm (not mint, but smells heavenly and is supposed to make good tea), and Peppermint.
So I get to play with fresh mint this winter. Hooray! I have gardening books with all sorts of fabulous suggestions.
You will most likely be pleased to hear that I’m going to have some fun knitting-content posts tomorrow and Friday. So if you’re bored out of your mind with my whining about being sick (I threw up yesterday and wanted to die), and my dumb dog, tomorrow should be a good time.
September 7th, 2005 at 7:41 am
oooh, lovely! I’ve never seen apple mint before. I had pineapple mint once, but never could quite figure out what to do with it other than garnishing boat drinks. 🙂 I may have to follow your lead this weekend and go buy fall herbs.
September 7th, 2005 at 8:33 am
Awesome about the mints…I love herbs.
Since the leaves will not be fermented, treat them like you would treat green tea. That is, brew them with steaming water (180F) instead of boiling. It will preserve the mintyness wihtout blackening and bittering the leaves.
Also unless you really LOVE the mint, do not plant it in the ground…it will take off (even the lemon balm).
MMM mint.
September 7th, 2005 at 11:55 am
I would love to grow herbs, but I don’t do enough cooking to actually use them. If it takes longer than a minute-thirty in the microwave, then I save it for a special occasion :-).
September 7th, 2005 at 6:02 pm
Dear Laura,
Hi! My name is Annette and I am a music teacher in Australia. I have been following (and enjoying!) your blog for a few months. I almost feel like I know your family now, and have started recognizing Seattle landmarks on the telly! Belated congratulations on your pregnancy.
My husband, Andrew, is also a music teacher, and we have two girls – Bella (3yrs) & Marnie (1yr) – plus we have two dogs, Jack and Jess.
Aside from wanting to join in discussions for a while now, what has really prompted me to post today was your mint buying. You might like to research the medicinal properties and possible side effects of peppermint, in particular. Peppermint oil is known to cause contractions/bleeding, and a long time ago a nurse friend told me of a study researching cases of spontaneous abortions – the link was that the mothers involved had consumed reasonable quantities of peppermint tea. I’m certainly not an authority, but it wouldn’t hurt to look into it.
Hope your morning sickness settles soon.
Annette.
September 8th, 2005 at 2:02 am
Ohhhhhhhhhh, I miss Molbaks. When I was little and lived in Woodinville (before it even had a high school or junior high) Molbaks was ONE greenhouse! I’m oooooooold.
September 8th, 2005 at 2:03 am
What about rosemary or maybe chives? I was thinking of going out and getting those… I remember last year my rosemary actually got buried in snow and looked perfectly fine when Spring rolled around.
September 8th, 2005 at 2:14 am
Hmmm… The book I have does not list mint as harmful to pregnancy, but it does list rosemary as well as cinnamon, echinacea, fennel, ginseng, licorice root, nutmeg, papaya, poppyseed, and sage. During both my pregnancies I usually would make my own teas to avoid unknown additives – nothing fancy, just a slice of lemon or ginger in hot water.
September 11th, 2005 at 9:36 am
Girl – you better watch it with the lemon balm – that stuff is like a weed. Of course, the climate here (NC) is far different (hot and REALLY humid where I am), but that lemon balm can escape a pot and really take over.
Also, I don’t think it makes good tea – it does smell heavenly, but my husband ( a chef with a restaurant herb garden) has tried everything and can’t find a single use for it other than garnishing an iced tea glass.
I’d love to hear if you find anything useful to do with it –