How to grow and harvest mints?

Different types of mints are in my herb garden. I like to have several different kinds of mints, because there are a lot of different uses that I will talk about later on in this blog.

First we need to learn more about mints, how to grow and harvest them. Mints are perennial, which means they will be back over the winter months. They grow in zones 5 to 9. Mints will grow up to 2 feet tall, but it depends on which species and cultivator they are. Their flowers will be tiny purple, pink, or white flowers that blooms above the leaves of your mint plants in mid to later summer. There leaves comes in many different shades of green, most of them with toothed edges.

Mints plants can be planted into my herb garden anytime from early spring through summer. Usually plant my mints in the spring, while I am planting other herbs or vegetables. Mints can tolerate both full sun and shade, but they really like it to be partial or filtered shade, so  I keep a certain area in my garden just for my mints. I will add 1/2 inch of compost every other year, because high fertility levels will make them more likely to develop a disease like rust. Other diseases that mints can have are anthracnose, and verticllium wilt. I have to keep my eyes on my mint plants for these plants for these pests and they are cutworms, spider mites, aphids, and mint flea beetles.

After my mint plants gets up to 6 to 8 inches tall, this is when I start harvesting them. I will gather the leafy stems in the morning after all of the dew is dried off. I will snip off the tips of branches. If I decided I wanted to dry some of my mints, which I usually ever time. For the ones that I am going to dry, I have to pick these mints before or after my plant has bloomed. I will cut stems 4 to 6 inches above the soil during early summer and a second cutting above the soil in the off for drying. I gather my mint together and hang them upside down to air dry. I have found that peppermint holds it fragrance and flavor better than the other different varieties of mints.

There are many different uses that I can use my different mints. Mints goes real good with meat, fish, and vegetable dishes, and I add fresh leaves to my salads and I add either fresh or dried mints to my dried beans, or cooked grains. I like to put some mints to my carrots, peas, and potatoes dishes. I use a lot of my different mints in my hot tea. Mints have a good fragrance so I like to add it to my potpourris and sachets.