So Succulent Gardens

TINCTURES (alcohol extraction)
Tincture are concentrated doses of herbal remedies used in small doses.

To make a tincture; place 4 oz of dried herb in a sterlized glass jar with a tight fitting plastic lid. Add 2 1/2 cups of high alcohol content vodka, shake every day for two weeks, than using a coffee filter to strain out the herbs and fine particles.
Label and store in a cool dark place. Consult a herbal book for additional information on what type of herbs to use for what ails you. Using only a drop or two of you tincture at a time.

*Please note the herbs must be in in DRIED FORM.

GARDEN PARTY MINTS
2 1/4 Cup Powdered Sugar
4 t. Whole Milk
2 T. Melted Butter
4 drops Peppermint Essential oil
1 ½ T. finely chopped chocolate mint leaves
8 oz Semisweet Chocolate
Mix powdered sugar, milk and butter, when smooth add chopped mint and peppermint essential oil. Form into patties and chill. Melt chocolate in double boiler. Dip patties into chocolate and allow to set.

MINTED SALAD DRESSING
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 Tbsp. mint vinegar
2 shallots, finely chopped
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh mint leaves
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. white pepper, ground
1/4 cup good olive oil
1. Combine all but oil in medium bowl.
2. Using a fork or whisk, gradually beat in olive oil.
Makes about 1 cup. This dressing is especially good with a fresh green salad of baby greens or spinach.

MINT SYRUP
2 cups water
1 cup mint leaves, loosely packed
4 cups sugar Food coloring, optional
In a saucepan, bring the water to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the mint leaves, cover, and let steep for 5 minutes. Strain out the leaves. Bring the liquid to a boil again and add the sugar, stirring until it is dissolved, simmer for 20 minutes, or until the syrup is reduced by about a third. Add coloring if desired. Pour the syrup into small, sterilized canning jars and seal. Place the jars in a boiling-water bath and process for 5 minutes. 1 ½ pints.

Moroccan Mint Meat Rub
2 tablespoons combination peppermint or spearmint leaves, or 1/2 cup fresh leaves.
1 clove garlic, minced
2 teaspoons allspice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Use on poultry or beef before grilling.

SWEET LAVENDER MINT VINEGAR
1 cup lavender mint leaves
Zest of 2 lemon
2 cups white vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
Put mint and lemon zest in a jar and fill with vinegar. Seal jar and let stand 2-3 weeks in a cool dark place. Shake from time to time. Strain and add sugar shake until sugar is dissolved. Sprinkle on with fresh fruits.MINT SAUCE FOR FRUIT
½ c. honey 1/4 c. water 2 T. fresh lime juice
2 T. fresh mint leaves, chopped Pinch of salt
Dissolve honey in boiling water. Add remaining ingredients and boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat, cover, and steep until cool, strain. Pour over fresh melons, berries, or kiwis. Allow fruit to marry in sauce before serving.

Here are other Mint Plants I have available in spring.

Mentha piperata 'Chocolate Mint'
Chocolate Mint
Height: 18"     Zone: 3-9     Light: sun to part shade
Description:  Bronze green leaves with a surprising chocolate peppermint fragrance. Add a few leaves to your coffee grounds before brewing for a special chocolate peppermint coffee. Can be added to brownies, cakes and ice cream recipes.
    

Add a few chocolate mint leaves to you coffee grounds. Add a tablespoon of dried chocolate mint herb to your brownie mix.  
 

Mentha x piperita 'Lavender'
Lavender Mint
Height: 18"     Zone: 3-9     Light: sun to part shade
Description:     Sweet lavender floral fragrance used for potpourri, herbal teas and cooking.
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Mentha pulegium
Pennyroyal
Height: 3"     Zone: 5-9     Light: sun to part shade
Description: Creeping growth habit, effective in repelling mosquito, fleas and ticks. A strong infusion of pennyroyal is an effect flea dip. Can cause spontaneous abortion so avoid using if the animal is pregnant. Make your dog a pennyroyal flea color by braiding pennyroyal around a string and placing around the pets’ neck.
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Mentha sp.
Blossom's Favorite Tea Mint
Height: 18"     Zone: 3-9     Light: sun - part shade
Description:  This is our creation from the farm, it is a chance seedling.
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Mentha requienii
Corsican Mint
Height: 1"     Zone: 6-9     Light: part shade - shade
Description:     Very dainty with tiny green leaves with a cool Crème de Menthe fragrance. Prefers a shady moist area between stepping stones, nooks and crannies and along a waterside. Seems to be hardy to only Zone 6 but reseeds freely.
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Mentha species
Basil Mint
Height: 18"     Zone: 3-9     Light: sun to part shade Description:     Dark green heart shaped leaves emitting a spicy floral fragrance.  Running short of basil?  Try this in pesto.
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Mentha 'Sweet Pear'
Sweet Pear Mint
Height: 18"     Zone: 3-9     Light: sun to part shade
Description:     It really gives off an unmistakable hint of sweet, ripe pears.  Make a light sweet tea with pear mint, or use the tea to simmer fruits, (apple, peaches, pears, etc.) until soft, let cool and marinate in the frig for about an hour.  Also try in yogurt, punch, cream pies and fruit jellies. It is wonderful in salads.
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Mentha spicata
Spearmint 'Kentucky Colonel'
Height: 24"     Zone: 3-9     Light: sun to part shade
Description:     Cool mint flavor, a classic ingredient of mint juleps, herbal teas or as a skin astringent.
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Mentha X gentilis
Ginger Mint
Height: 15"     Zone: 5-9     Light: sun to part shade
Description:     Bright green leaves variegated with gold mottled stripes, with the taste of mint and ginger. Lovely container or basket plant for the porch.
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Mentha suaveolens
Apple Mint
Height: 18"     Zone: 3-9     Light: sun to part shade
Description:     Large woolly leaves with a sweet apple scent.  Herbal teas, cooking herb and fragrant garnishes.
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Mentha suaveolens 'Variegata'
Variegated Pineapple Mint
Height: 12"     Zone: 3-9     Light: sun to part shade
Description:     Fruity, fragrant and very lovely variegated green and white leaves. Would be nice as a container plant.
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Mentha piperita 'Variegata'
Variegated Peppermint
Height: 12"     Zone: 3-9     Light: sun to part shade
Description:  Creamy variegated peppermint is more of an ornamental variety of Peppermint,  but with the same great peppermint flavor. Peppermint is an excellent digestive aid and has been used for the treatment of morning and motion sickness, as well as an inhalant to treat congestion. Flavorful herb tea, hot or cold. 
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Mentha species
The Best Mint
Height: 18"     Zone: 3-9     Light: sun to part shade
Description:  The Best" Mint is so called because it is the most vigorous growing form of spearmint. The green, wrinkled leaves make a soothing and refreshing tea and may be used to scent linen closets and woolen chests, repel moths, in fact all mints are good repelling insects.

Recipes to follow in part 3

I get crazed when it comes to certain type of plant groupings. I get obsessed and need to collect them all.  MINT was one I had to find every fragrant and tasty variety - it is still a collection in progress, but now I have around twenty varieties and my newest is mojito mint from Cuba.  I hope to have enough Mojito mint by fall to offer for sale at my website.

Here is some interesting notes about MINT:
The Greek God Pluto, ruler of the underworld, fell madly in love with a beautiful nymph, Mentha. His jealous wife, Persephone, pounded her into the earth. Pluto then turned poor Mentha into a wonderful healing, fragrant plant that gave him some consolation.

Fresh leaves make a pleasant addition to hot or iced tea, garnish for beverages or fruit deserts. Mint is cleansing and makes a nice addition to herbal bathing products.

Folklore: To carry a few leaves in the wallet is said to attract money, stuff sachets with mint leaves to ward off disease.

Mentha
LEMON MINT
Description:     Lemon scented with slightly ruffled leaves, perfect for blending or using alone in herb teas and savory recipes.
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Mentha aquatica citrata 'Eau de Cologne'
Eau de Cologne (Orange)
Height: 24"     Zone: 3-9     Light: sun to part shadeDescription:     Refreshing citrus orange flavor and is tantalizing in teas, fruit salads and chasing those fleas and ants away. The oil is an ingredient in chartreuse liqueur and perfumes.
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Mentha avensis 'Banana'
Banana Mint
Height: 12"     Zone: 3-9     Light: sun to part shade
Description:     Pale green, slightly fuzzy leaves with the unusual fragrance of bananas, add to fruit salads, breads or as a garnish. Blend with chocolate mint for a great herbal blend to add to baking brownies.
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Mentha spicata 'Chewing Gum'
Chewing Gum Mint
Height: 18"     Zone: 3-9     Light: sun to part shade
 
Description: Extremely fragrant and flavorful, very similar to Wrigley's spearmint chewing gum.
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Mentha piperita citrata 'Lime'
Lime Mint
Height: 24"     Zone: 3-9     Light: sun - part shade
Description:   Bright green leaves with a strong lime scent and flavor. Great as a garnish were a lime flavor is required. Try it in your salsa recipe  or guacamole or toss a leaf in your margarita.
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Mentha citriodora x. M. arvensis
GRAPEFRUIT MINT
Height: Zone: 3- 9 Light: sun part shade
Description: Crinkled, light grapefruit-scented leaves with mild spearmint undertones.
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Mentha piperata 'Blue Balsam'
Peppermint 'Blue Balsam'
Height: 12"     Zone: 3-9     Light: sun to part shadeDescription:  Peppermint is an excellent digestive aid and has been used for the treatment of morning and motion sickness, as well as an inhalant to treat congestion. Flavorful herb tea, hot or cold. Blue balsamic is an improved peppermint with purple tinted, dark blue/green leaves; it has a much cleaner peppermint flavor.

THE REST OF ARE VARIETIES WILL BE POSTED WITH RECIPES==

KEEP LOOKING!
    

Once a month I help out with a wonderful group of folks for a program call Angel Food Ministries --- Coming to a neighborhood near you.....
But before the food truck arrives we all enjoy a bit of conversation and break bread together.   A few of us bring the breakfast type food and this scone was served, I just had to find the recipe, they had  hinted that it was from the Cleveland Plain Dealer, so of course I ran home and did a search and it popped up -  I replaced the raisins with cranberries, and used sliced almonds, I would think lavender buds would be a nice touch, but everything with lavender is a bit redundant, so my family states.

Scones
Makes 15 to 20

10 ¾ cups of all-purpose flour
1½ cups sugar superfine works best
2 teaspoons salt
½ tablespoon baking soda
1 pound butter (cold)
¾ to 1 quart buttermilk
1 cup raisins
4 tablespoons baking powder

Preparation: Combine all dry ingredients using paddle attachment for mixer. Add cold butter, previously cut into small pieces.

Allow butter and dry mix to incorporate. Add raisins.

Slowly add buttermilk until entire mix becomes like a dough.

Roll out on floured surface to about ¾ to 1 inch.

Use a round cutter to cut out the scones. Place on sheet tray with parchment paper. Egg-wash each scone.

Bake for 12-15 minutes at 365 degrees.

Let cool. Finish with fresh Devonshire cream or fruit preserves.

Source: Pastry chef Roger Smith, the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Cleveland.

Thank you Chef Smith!  Great Recipe----Gayle

Yea! There was sunshine today and I was able to catch some rays out in the greenhouse.  Before you know it, we will be fighting insects for some grub, so be prepared with this simple recipe.

HERBAL INSECT REPELLANT
Grind 1 ½ cup of dried herbs or 3 cups fresh and place in 1 quart of water, let it sit for 24 hours, strain, add 1/4 t. of dish soap. A variety of herbs are known to repel a variety of insects. Experiment to see what works best in your situation. Here are some that may work: catmint, feverfew, marigolds, sage, thyme, pennyroyal, wormwood, chives, painted daisies, southernwood, lemon bam, tansy, lavender, bay and garlic.