Are mint plants edible. What parts, and can it be used raw? I have a
couple plants and I would like to use them.

Of course they are and yes, it can be used raw. Mint is a herb used in alot
of cooking. I use the leaves. I make it in to mint sauce, mint jelly, put
leaves in when cooking spuds... my dad even puts mint sauce over his cooked
cabbage!
--
Anna Merchant

NB. All things said are my own opinion unless otherwise stated.

"craignw" wrote in message
...
Are mint plants edible. What parts, and can it be used raw? I have a
couple plants and I would like to use them.

craignw wrote:

Are mint plants edible. What parts, and can it be used raw? I have a
couple plants and I would like to use them.

There's mints and mints. Most are edible... you use leaf and/or flowering tops,
because it's lots of work to wash roots, and the stems get thick and stringy.
Yes, you can use the lot raw.

If what you have is peppermint, spearmint, applemint or that ilk (Mentha sp.)
then make a tea, put it into your yogurt dressing, add a bit to your chocolate
cake decoration ... for ideas, try
http://www.ibiblio.org/herbmed/faqs/culi-2-9-mint.html

If what you have is catnip, catmint, or that sort (Nepeta sp.), make a tea -
they're relaxing, calming, remove mild cramps, but they're not all that tasty.

If what you have is one or several of the mountain mints (Pycnanthemum sp.) -
yum, they're as tasty as peppermint, with just a hint of sweetness in there.

I'm sure I've missed some, but shrug.

Henriette

--
Henriette Kress Helsinki, Finland
Henriette's herbal homepage: http://www.ibiblio.org/herbmed

In article ,
Henriette Kress writes:
| craignw wrote:
|
| Are mint plants edible. What parts, and can it be used raw? I have a
| couple plants and I would like to use them.
|
| There's mints and mints. Most are edible... you use leaf and/or flowering tops,
| because it's lots of work to wash roots, and the stems get thick and stringy.
| Yes, you can use the lot raw.
|
| If what you have is peppermint, spearmint, applemint or that ilk (Mentha sp.)
| then make a tea, put it into your yogurt dressing, add a bit to your chocolate
| cake decoration ... for ideas, try
| http://www.ibiblio.org/herbmed/faqs/culi-2-9-mint.html

But avoid pennyroyal, especially if you are female and between
6 and 60! It is unlikely that you will confuse it with one of
the common culinary mints by accident.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Anna Merchant wrote:

: Of course they are and yes, it can be used raw. Mint is a herb used in alot
: of cooking. I use the leaves. I make it in to mint sauce, mint jelly, put
: leaves in when cooking spuds... my dad even puts mint sauce over his cooked
: cabbage!

: Are mint plants edible. What parts, and can it be used raw? I have a
: couple plants and I would like to use them.

You may have a couple plants now. In the years to come, you'll have
thousands of them, and they'll never go away. Mint is basically a
maintenance-free plant.

On 20 Jun 2003 11:02:31 -0400, Charles P wrote in
rec.gardens.edible:

: Are mint plants edible. What parts, and can it be used raw? I have a
: couple plants and I would like to use them.

You do not eat lamb, do you? :-)

You may have a couple plants now. In the years to come, you'll have
thousands of them, and they'll never go away. Mint is basically a
maintenance-free plant.

Mint is basically a delicious, nice smelling weed! I love it!
--
Gardening Zones
Canada Zone 5a
United States Zone 3a
Near Ottawa, Ontario

You may have a couple plants now. In the years to come, you'll have
thousands of them, and they'll never go away. Mint is basically a
maintenance-free plant.

1998: 1 three inch pot of mint
2003: 1 three foot by three foot plot of mint, a zillion seedlings everywhere,
and constant weeding it out of the lawn, the crevices along the sidewalk, the
cracks in the raised bed....etc, etc.

There is NOTHING maintence-free about mint - it is like the creeping, flying
green creature from horror movie hell in the garden. Good thing it tastes
good...

I take it, wash it, and add it in a huge handfull to one part water, one part
sugar in a large pot on the stove. Simmer as long as you like, strain out the
leaves, and bottle the syrup to refridgerate. Use the syrup in regular tea in
place of sugar, in lemonade, or hot chocolate. No idea how long it keeps in the
fridge, because it never lasts that long around here....

Quick mint tea is boiling water added to a handful of leaves in the teapot with
a few drops of lemon or lemon slices.

Hmm...I'm going to make a cuppa, right now....


-=epm=-

In matters of truth and justice,
there is no difference between large and small problems,
for issues concerning the treatment of people are all the same.
- Albert Einstein

Henriette Kress wrote:

I'm sure I've missed some, but shrug.

Henriette

How about coleus? I think it's a mint; I have no idea if it's edible.
Also the sages (salvia). I don't know if all of them are edible.

Best regards, ;-)
Bob

zxcvbob wrote:
Henriette Kress wrote:

I'm sure I've missed some, but shrug.

How about coleus? I think it's a mint;

A few definitions of "mint": true mints are Mentha spp.

To confuse things, these true mints are also "mints", in the sense that
they're in the mint family, Lamiaceae (Labiatae). (If we were to go by
latin family names, the Lamiaceae would be "deadnettles" in English.)

The Lamiaceae is one of the larger families, containing hundreds if not
thousands of genera, and thousands if not tens of thousands of species
- and if we shove varieties, forms, subspecies and cultivars into a corner
where they can be conveniently forgotten, they're theoretically countable,
if rather unmanageable.


Then there's the "culinary" mint: plants that taste minty, or that have
been used in foods or teas instead of or like mints, or that have "mint"
somewhere in their name (usually because they've been used in foods and
teas like mints, but catmint for one certainly isn't culinary).

I was listing "culinary" mints earlier in this thread.

Both coleus and salvia are in the mint family, but that doesn't mean
they have a minty taste, or have been used like mints; and they don't have
"mint" in their names.

I have no idea if it's edible.

Most Coleus species are edible, and I haven't heard of an outright
toxic one.
Some Coleuses are now Plectranthus - and the other way around. Don't ask,
I don't have a clue what botanists think they're doing.

Also the sages (salvia). I don't know if all of them are edible.

The salvias are all edible, but they might not taste of much.

Hetta

--
Henriette Kress, AHG Helsinki, Finland
Henriette's herbal homepage: http://www.ibiblio.org/herbmed
Best of RHOD: http://www.ibiblio.org/herbmed/rhod/main.html

writes:

Then there's the "culinary" mint: plants that taste minty, or that have
been used in foods or teas instead of or like mints, or that have "mint"
somewhere in their name (usually because they've been used in foods and
teas like mints, but catmint for one certainly isn't culinary).

???

Perhaps my definition of culinary is too loose; I thought it was.

The hangtag on my catnip, purchased from a reputable veggie nursery, says:

Medicinal Herb - Nepeta cataria
CATNIP
Perennial, 2-5' ht., sun. Cats find the leaves and flowers intoxicating.
Tea is a popular nightcap; also a remedy for colds, fever. Lavender to
white flowers in June.

Perhaps I should refine my thoughts about culinary to mean seasoning
rather then edible?

Glenna

Glenna Rose wrote:
writes:

Then there's the "culinary" mint: plants that taste minty, or that have
been used in foods or teas instead of or like mints, or that have "mint"
somewhere in their name (usually because they've been used in foods and
teas like mints, but catmint for one certainly isn't culinary).


???

Perhaps my definition of culinary is too loose; I thought it was.

The hangtag on my catnip, purchased from a reputable veggie nursery, says:

Medicinal Herb - Nepeta cataria
CATNIP
Perennial, 2-5' ht., sun. Cats find the leaves and flowers intoxicating.
Tea is a popular nightcap; also a remedy for colds, fever. Lavender to
white flowers in June.

Perhaps I should refine my thoughts about culinary to mean seasoning
rather then edible?

Glenna


Catmint is different from catnip. Catmint (Nepeta mussinii) is a nice
ornamental for dry sunny areas, like the little 10 inch wide bed between
the south side of my house and the sidewalk. It has small fragrant leaves
and blue flower spikes. Some cats find it mildly amusing, but not nearly
so much as catnip. I don't know of any culinary or medicinal uses for it.

Best regards,
Bob

writes:

Catmint is different from catnip. Catmint (Nepeta mussinii) is a nice
ornamental for dry sunny areas, like the little 10 inch wide bed between
the south side of my house and the sidewalk. It has small fragrant
leaves
and blue flower spikes. Some cats find it mildly amusing, but not nearly
so much as catnip. I don't know of any culinary or medicinal uses for it.

Best regards,
Bob

Thank you for the clarification. I appreciate it. Thank goodness we are
always able to learn new things, adn want to. :-)

Glenna

zxcvbob wrote:

Catmint is different from catnip. Catmint (Nepeta mussinii) is a nice
ornamental for dry sunny areas, like the little 10 inch wide bed between
the south side of my house and the sidewalk. It has small fragrant leaves
and blue flower spikes. Some cats find it mildly amusing, but not nearly
so much as catnip. I don't know of any culinary or medicinal uses for it.

All Nepeta spp. are edible, but that doesn't mean they're culinary.
Or would _you_ make a tea of catnip for its exquisite cat**** aroma?

.... okay, the taste isn't that strong, but it's not a tea you take unless
you _need_ to calm down, or calm down those cramps.

Henriette

--
Henriette Kress, AHG Helsinki, Finland
Henriette's herbal homepage: http://www.ibiblio.org/herbmed
Best of RHOD: http://www.ibiblio.org/herbmed/rhod/main.html

Wrap it up, people. :-) I just Googled and the original question
(punctuation reproduced intact) was "Are mint plants edible." Possibly
a troll, as there have been no follow-ups from the OP. A "mint plant"
sold or passed along as a "mint plant" presumably means one of the
common varieties of peppermint or spearmint, not every single member
of the Mentha family and related plants. The correct answer is, of
course, yes. :-)