jilofrenzy.blogg.se - Mint sprigs

Of course, mint isn’t only used to deter bugs it also attracts the beneficial insects. Also, keep pets flea-free by stuffing a small pillow with fresh spearmint and thyme and placing near your pet’s bed. You need to replace the mint with fresh material every few days. Bug repellent: When ants come into the kitchen during the summer, place a few stems of mint, gently crushed, near suspected entry points really does deter ants.Refresh periodically to keep the scent fresh. Suspend by a string inside a garment bag, tuck into bags of stored woolen clothing, or just place in your drawers to let your clothes soak up the scent. Moth repellent/scented sachet: Tie a few branches of strongly scented mint (peppermint, sage, lavender, rosemary, bee-balm) together, or pull off a handful of leaves, and stuff them into the leg of an old nylon stocking.Scent up a space: Keep your home smelling fresh by adding a few drops of mint essential oil to your favorite unscented cleaner or just take a cotton ball and dap onto a light bulb.Don’t use chew mint-family herbs if you’re breastfeeding, as even small amounts or sage and peppermint may reduce milk supply. Breath freshener: Just chew on a few mint leaves! Sage teas and extracts have been used for centuries as a mouthwash for oral infections.To use, gently apply to the burned area with cotton pads. Ease sunburn pain: Make a strong peppermint tea and refrigerating the mixture for several hours.

Add to bath water for an invigorating, stress-free soak.

Mint bath. Steep a handful of mint leaves in a pint of hot water for about ten minutes, then strain.

When cool, strain the herbs and store in the refrigerator.

Mouthwash: Chop a quarter cup of fresh mint, bee-balm, lemon balm, basil, thyme, or oregano leaves and infuse in a quart of boiling water.

Strain the herbs from the mixture after a week. Store in a glass jar for a week or more, shaking occasionally.

Facial astringent: Add a few finely minced leaves of fresh peppermint or other mint to a cup of witch hazel.

The vinegary smell dissipates after drying.

Hair rinse: Add one part strong mint (especially rosemary) tea to one part cider vinegar for a conditioning rinse you can either leave in or rinse out.

It’s a great digestive aid after dinner. Apple mint is one of my favorites with more mint flavor and less aftertaste. Just steep your fresh mint leaves in boiling water for about five minutes and serve.

Tea: Why buy mint tea when it’s so easy to make? What we usually call the “mints” (peppermint, spearmint, apple mint, etc.) are traditional tea herbs.

Drinks: Freeze a few trays of strong mint tea, then use the ice cubes for cooling summer drinks! Add mint leaves or cubes to mojitos, iced tea, or fresh lemonade.

We like to add a couple tablespoons of fresh chopped mint to peas, green beans, carrots, cauliflower, or zucchini to create a minted vegetables!

Food: The peppermints are especially good culinary mints, ideal for chopping into salads, sprinkling over fruits or combining with basil or cilantro to make mint pesto.

There are many safe uses for mint-family herbs besides beautifying your gardens. Many, if not most mint-family members, contain strongly aromatic oils (think lavender, rosemary, basil, thyme, and sage), which account for their many uses as seasoning, flavoring, and perfuming agents. All summer, they produce nectar-rich blossoms, which attract bees and beneficial pollinators along with an occasional hummingbird.Ī favorite in my summer herb garden is the bright red bee-balm which seeds itself all over the place, makes a great cut flower, and serves as a tasty tea to boot. Think salvias, agastaches, and lavenders, bee-balms, hyssop, and Russian sage.

You’ll also find mints among our favorite landscaping plants.Plus, there are dozens (perhaps hundreds) of traditional medicinal herbs, not to mention many aromatics for use in flavorings, perfumes, and cosmetics.Mint provides most of our common culinary herbs (e.g., basil, oregano, marjoram, rosemary, sage, thyme, summer and winter savories).The most common and popular mints for growing are peppermint (Mentha × piperita), native spearmint (Mentha spicata), Scotch spearmint (Mentha x gracilis), and cornmint (Mentha arvensis) also (more recently) apple mint (Mentha suaveolens).What do you know about the mint family, Lamiaceae, the sixth- or seventh-largest of the flowering plant families? How do you use extra mint leaves? Here are 12 marvelous uses for mint around the home and garden-from culinary to medicinal to mouthwash to bug repellent! Meet the Mints