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Mint miracle: Organic gardening gone right
by greenlagirl

Behold -- Mint has risen up from the dead(ish).

Plants are magical. I got this mint as a clipping from Jenn and Nat, neighbors of mine who have a whole urban edible garden.

All Nat did was chop off the top part of one of his mint plants, pinch off a few leaves, then instruct me to poke it into dirt and water it.

This is how the mint looked at first. But now, I have real, living mint plants!

Granted, I got 2 clippings, and the left seems to be doing a lot better than the right one, which appears somewhat damaged and yellowish, though not yet dead --

Mojitos are in order -- And I recommend that all urban gals with a balcony get themselves a lil mint clipping --

Photo by Siel, green LA girl.

BlogHer Contributing Editor Siel also blogs at greenLAgirl.com.

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Comments

 

Mint is wonderful

I just adore mint, and it's notoriously easy to grow. I say notoriuously because if you plant it in a spot where it's not contained, it will spread out through underground runners and take over your garden. My two favorite uses for fresh mint are Tabbouli (use a lot of mint and parsley for a true middle eastern version) and a salad my Iranian friend Massoud taught me to make (which he just calls "salad" but I call it Middle Eastern Salad.) It's equal parts of finely diced tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet onions, mint, and parsley with a dressing of olive oil and lemon juice. The sum is so much greater than the parts. I could eat this all day.

Kalyn Denny
Kalyn's Kitchen

 

Hopefully my mint'll be

Hopefully my mint'll be easier to contain, since it has its own pot :) I LOVE tabbouli -- used to eat it all the time while in France -- and am now off to look for yummy tabbouli recipes -- greenlagirl.com

 

Try chocolate mint

If you want a really fine tea, grow chocolate mint. It's like drinking a girl scout cookie. Just don't grow it next to spearmint which will crush it's little life.

As for urban gardens - I've been growing organic veggies with teen moms for a couple of years. This weekend some eagle scouts put in a drip irrigation system and already everything looks happier. The California sun on raised beds made it difficult to keep them hydrated.

 

Chocolate mint! I'll see if

Chocolate mint! I'll see if the herb woman at the farmers' market sells them, or look into getting a clipping from someone. Drinkable thin mints sound fun :)

greenlagirl.com