Picking Mint With Lucy
Gardening Tips from Herne Bay In Bloom
By Stafford Taylor
A simple bit of knowledge goes a long way in the garden. Something as simple as how we pick plants can make a difference to their longevity and flavour. I recently picked mint in the garden with Lucy who kindly demonstrated, for me and my camera, the correct way to harvest the mint. We filmed the following in our community garden.
Above: Lucy and I, with the mint.
Right kids, so what have we learnt;
Mint begins diverting energy away from its leaves if it is allowed to flower, this is because the plant, once having gone to flower, redirects its energy into the next phase of its life cycle.
Rather than picking odd leaves off of a mint plant, we should clip the stem off just above any area of fresh growth; This ensures the plant will keep giving us fresh, moist leaves and not immediately flower or overgrown.
The flavour and quality of the plant can be affected by the arrival of flowers, along with the plants’ longevity, this is another reason to keep mint well pruned.
The best thing to remember about mint is that fresh is best, so ensuring the plant keeps growing fresh leaves instead of becoming gangly, dry or bitter is to keep plucking away at the plant’s stems throughout the year!
Mint is a brilliant and easy-growing herb, that we have in abundance and in many varieties at our Herne Bay Memorial Park Community Kitchen Garden. If you come down to see us we hope you can apply the knowledge presented here and take some mint if you need it, as there’s no reason to buy it in a supermarket. I should also add that many other leafy plants, like mint discussed here, lose a certain je ne sais quoi after flowering, so get out and harvest and prune them while you can, especially if you’re intent of using them later in the year and want them to be of their top quality.
Above: Mint, mozzarella sticks, blueberries, buttered French stick, cranberry jam, caramelised onion sausage.
Incorporating mint into your diet needn’t require a Michelin Star, just munching it up alongside other food can improve the culinary experience. After picking the mint with Lucy I had it alongside some other good food as pictured above. I’ll frequently have it raw as well as cooked. I love it in salads along with feta cheese, with mushy peas, beans, and potatoes. A sprig also goes great alongside many deserts and ice creams and it isn’t just a garnish for the eyes, but a pleasant experience for the taste buds too… Mmm, all this food talk is making me hungry… I best get back down the garden for some minty goodness!
If you want to get down to the garden too please come by on a Saturday or a Wednesday, as these are two of our most active days, usually in the afternoon, or otherwise please drop us a message and let us know when you’d like to visit us and maybe get some herbs. You can message our Community Gardening team through our Herne Bay In Bloom Facebook page.
We hope to see you soon! - Very best ~ Staf Taylor.