It’s so easy to grow peppermint you can hardly make a mistake. Peppermint is one of the most productive herbs you can grow, and it has many culinary and medicinal uses. Read on to learn how to grow, harvest and use peppermint leaves from your own garden.
How to Grow Peppermint
Peppermint is a hardy perennial that comes back year after year. It grows aggressively in almost any garden soil and tolerates shade; however, peppermint prefers full sun and a well-drained soil to avoid root rot. The plant can grow 1-3 feet tall and can take over the garden. This invasive, bushy herb grows bright green leaves. Peppermint can be grown from seed, from a cutting, or as a transplant.
But use caution–the invasive plant spreads underground. It sends out suckers, withstands drought, and needs no fertilizer. Peppermint crowds out and kills other plants nearby. That means you might want to grow peppermint in contained areas or indoors.
How to Harvest Peppermint
In July or August, it flowers in little purplish-colored flowers that make a nice appearance as edging or in a container pot. If you want to keep the herb bushy and more contained, pinch off stem ends, but leave at least a third of the plant when you pinch off any part of it. Peppermint is in its best flavor if you pick new and tender leaves, but the peak flavor is just before the herb flowers.
How to Prepare and Dry Peppermint
To prepare peppermint, you need to rinse the leaves with cool water and pick out any dead matter. Then drain your peppermint leaves and pat them dry. Air-dry your leaves and they are ready to store or use. Some people air-dry peppermint leaves by hanging the stems inside a brown paper bag to catch any leaves that fall. Peppermint leaves will be dry and brittle when completely dry. Remove the leaves from the stems, and store them in an airtight container out of the light. You can can dry peppermint leaves in a food dehydrator on the lowest setting.
Some people also freeze peppermint by freezing individual sprigs on a sheet pan and once frozen, they bag them and toss the bags into the freezer. Another method of freezing peppermint leaves is to put prepared leaves into ice cube trays, cover with water, and freeze. When peppermint is needed, the ice cube is melted off.
When to Pick Peppermint
But why go to all the work of freezing peppermint when it’s so easy to step to the back yard and pick fresh peppermint? Leaves can be picked anytime and peppermint grows in most growing zones. This hardy herb produces edible leaves for sampling all year. The best picking time for peppermint is early morning after the dew is gone, because herb oils are strongest in the morning.
How to Use Peppermint
Enjoy peppermint in tea, in a garden salad, or as garnish. Some folks chew peppermint leaves to handle bad breath odor, to settle an upset stomach, or as a stimulant. Because menthol is the main component of peppermint, it helps sooth sore throats, loosens up coughs, thins mucus, and helps as a decongestant. It’s best not to give peppermint to very young children, pregnant or nursing mothers, or those with reflux condition or gallstones.
Peppermint smells great in a bedroom drawer sachet. Added to bathwater, it has a refreshing soothing feel. Peppermint is also antibacterial and provides a calming or numbing effect. This herb has a redeeming garden benefit too; aphids and rodents don’t like peppermint.
To make peppermint tea, steep a teaspoon of dried peppermint leaves in a cup of boiling water. After about 10 minutes, strain it and you have a soothing cup of hot tea.
Peppermint has such a strong overpowering scent, you won’t want to store it near other herbs. And when you store peppermint, be sure it’s dry or it might mold. Always store peppermint in an airtight container.
Why not grow your own peppermint in a part of the yard that has poor soil and won’t grow much else? Peppermint will not only makes an attractive groundcover, but it also offers many other great benefits too.
