Is it just me, or is mint taking over the world? It grows wild behind the pea patch, and I’m forever ripping the burly runners out of the food bank beds. The strategy is containment, not eradication. And think long and hard before throwing mint stems into the home compost, especially if your pile doesn’t get overly hot.
Not that mint is the enemy. Not at all. It can be so versatile in the kitchen, almost like basil the way it can go savory or sweet. I like chopping it into a garlicky yogurt sauce to go with pan roasted lamb chops or grilled eggplant; thin slices are nice for Vietnamese cucumber salads and tabbouleh.
Even the picky Biscuit likes to chew on mint, and she can happily entertain herself with a sprig while I chop soil and pull weeds. For a few minutes, at least, which is good as it gets these days.
I give bunches of mint to everybody I think might care to use them. Our hippie neighbors. Our foodie friends. I gave a big bunch to a chef friend, who took one sniff and exclaimed, “Cocktails!”
Indeed. First week in May, and even if you don’t care much about race horses, you can still enjoy a refreshing beverage with crushed mint and delicious alcohol. Only the mint is truly local in this drink, so if food miles are a concern, make up for it by using lots of the stuff.
The Old Cuban
One dozen mint leaves, or more to taste / 3 tbls lime juice / 4 tbls simple syrup* / 2 tbls rum / 2 dashes bitters / 4+ tbls Champagne
Muddle mint and lime juice in cocktail shaker. Add simple syrup, rum, bitters, and ice, and shake until chilly. Strain into two cocktail glasses and add half of the Champagne to each.
*Make simple syrup from 1 cup sugar dissolved over heat into 1 cup water.
Eat Local Northwest 
2 comments
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May 25, 2010 at 5:07 pm
Lynn
So funny you mention mint taking over. I’ve tried for three years now and cannot get mint to grow in a container in my backyard. Keep getting these small green worms of some sort and a spider that weaves webs around leaves and about the mint. Am I the only person that cannot grow mint?! Cheers to your mint and feel free to send some my way!
July 13, 2010 at 8:01 pm
Rachael
No, I am having the same problem with my mint too! Every year I almost lose the entire plant within days due to the same little green worms that spin silk thread. The same plant comes back to beautiful, healthy growth early in the spring … then it is ravaged by the little beasts! I have never found a way to prevent this (other than taking it into the house) and they have huge appetites. I have always had to resort to picking them off by hand (and they can vary in size to very visable to the naked eye, to very tiny & hair-like, which makes it extremely difficult to find all of them before they do damage). They are also on my cuke leaves too this year!!!
The same worms got into my potted rosemary plant last year as well. They spun custers of silky cocoons hidden within the leaves, which nearly killed the plant before I discovered the problem. It has never been healthy since.
I would love to find something to effectly get rid of them & would appreciate any suggestions.
Incidently, last year I thought grasshoppers were doing the damage, so I brought the mint into the house, only to discover the leaves were continuing to vanish anyway. It wasn’t until I found their droppings on my tile floor that I looked underneath to see them hanging up-side-down, grazing like little cows! I picked them all off (with a very bald plant remaining) and put them in a jar to decide where to relocate them in the morning. When I went back for the jar the next day, they had all fought to the death & none were alive. Weird, huh?