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Shellben · January 23, 2011

We grow about 10 varieties of mint every year (this year I'm eying Jim Westerfield's mints at Richter's), and we get so much use out of them! (Chocolate mint is always one of them.) We steep the mint while making a simple syrup to make a delightful mint syrup. We then use this syrup to make iced tea, mojitos, mint julep (with still more fresh mint leaves added to the pitcher or glass), and even mint pop! What a nice treat for the kids, with no high-fructose corn syrup. We just add some mint syrup to sparkling water, throw in some mint leaves, and voila! Homemade mint pop. And using this same simple syrup idea, we've made syrups out of lemon thyme, orange balsam thyme, rosemary, lemongrass, and ginger (can't grow the ginger here in Michigan, so we have to get that at the grocery store.) We even gave the syrups away in little jars as Christmas presents. The kids LOVE our herb garden. And the mint is an integral part of that. We just like to grow it in pots so that we can all stay friends. ; ) Good luck!

January 23, 2011	#54
Shellben Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2006 Location: Clarkston, Michigan Posts: 1	Uses for Mint We grow about 10 varieties of mint every year (this year I'm eying Jim Westerfield's mints at Richter's), and we get so much use out of them! (Chocolate mint is always one of them.) We steep the mint while making a simple syrup to make a delightful mint syrup. We then use this syrup to make iced tea, mojitos, mint julep (with still more fresh mint leaves added to the pitcher or glass), and even mint pop! What a nice treat for the kids, with no high-fructose corn syrup. We just add some mint syrup to sparkling water, throw in some mint leaves, and voila! Homemade mint pop. And using this same simple syrup idea, we've made syrups out of lemon thyme, orange balsam thyme, rosemary, lemongrass, and ginger (can't grow the ginger here in Michigan, so we have to get that at the grocery store.) We even gave the syrups away in little jars as Christmas presents. The kids LOVE our herb garden. And the mint is an integral part of that. We just like to grow it in pots so that we can all stay friends. ; ) Good luck!