What Can You Use Spearmint Plant For?

Uses for Mint Leaves

• Make your own mint syrup. Mint syrup can be used to flavor your summer drinks, snow cones, desserts and more.
• Perk up your pesto.
• Utilize as an insect repellent.
• Chew for fresh breath.
• Give your potatoes some pop.
• Fancy up your beverages.
• Spice up your salads.
• Give your butter a boost.

Can you eat spearmint leaves?

Are the leaves just for flavor or can you eat them? Mint is a member of the Lamiaceae family, consisting of about 15 to 20 species, such as spearmint and peppermint, all of which are perfectly fine to eat raw or cooked. Mint leaves are a favored herb that people use, dried or fresh in many dishes and infusions.

What is spearmint good for in the garden?

Mint Attracts Beneficial Insects (& Repels the Bad Ones)
The smell of the mint plant will also repel houseflies, cabbage moths, ants, aphids, squash bugs, fleas, mosquitoes, and even mice.

Is spearmint a medicinal plant?

Mint has been used in traditional medicine to treat a variety of ailments for many years. Unfortunately, there aren’t many human studies documenting the impact mint has on the body apart from digestion support and irritable bowel syndrome relief.

What can I do with too many mint leaves?

1. Mint Tea. The easiest thing to do with large handfuls of fresh mint is to make mint tea.
2. Mint Syrup/Candied Mint. This twofer is a great way to preserve mint.
3. Mint Sugar.
4. Mint Salt.
5. Mint Extract.
6. Mint No-Churn Ice Cream.

Does spearmint keep mosquitoes away?

Peppermint, pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium) and spearmint (Mentha spicata) – all have pest-repelling qualities. Sprays made from these plants create an effective mosquito repellent as well as repel other insect species.

Does spearmint keep bugs away?

Some varieties of mint, such as peppermint (Mentha piperita) and spearmint (Mentha spicata), also have insect repellent properties.

What bugs does mint keep away?

Mint (Mentha)
The scent of mint repels aphids, cabbage moths, flea beetles, squash bugs, whiteflies, and even ants. To prevent this aggressive grower from taking over your vegetable garden, you can simply lay sprigs of mint among the plants you want to protect, but the sprigs must be replaced often.

How do you dry spearmint leaves?

How to Prepare Mint Leaves for Drying

1. Rinse the mint leaves thoroughly. Take your bunches of mint leaves and rinse them under cool, running water.
2. Dry the mint leaves. Remove any excess moisture from the mint leaves with a salad spinner if you have one.
3. Remove the stems (optional).
4. Place the leaves on a drying rack.

How do you make spearmint tea?

Summary Spearmint tea can be enjoyed hot or iced at any time of the day.
To make the tea at home:

1. Boil two cups (473 ml) of water.
2. Remove from heat and add a handful of torn spearmint leaves to the water.
3. Cover and steep for five minutes.
4. Strain and drink.

Can you drink spearmint tea everyday?

Spearmint extract has most often been used by adults at a dose of 900 mg by mouth daily for up to 90 days. Spearmint tea has most often been used as two cups daily for up to 16 weeks. Speak with a healthcare provider to find out what dose might be best for a specific condition.

How do you harvest spearmint?

Harvesting mint leaves can’t get any easier. If you need just a few leaves for a recipe or tea, simply pluck individual leaves directly off the stems. On the other hand, if you want to harvest in bulk for storing or need a lot of mint for cooking, cut stems and leaves using garden shears or a pair of sharp scissors.

Can spearmint tea help you lose weight?

Even though Spearmint green tea is full of vital components, it is not a magical weight-loss beverage. However, it can help in achieving ideal weight if combined with a healthy diet, balanced lifestyle and shunning junk food. Spearmint tea helps to cure nausea caused by overeating fatty foods.

What can you do with fresh mint plants?

Mint is one of the most versatile of herbs: it works just as well in savory and sweet recipes! Add it to drinks and cocktails for the best refreshing flavor. Pull off beautiful leaves to garnish desserts, or throw it into salads to make a beautiful green pop. You can even use it to make pesto.

Can you freeze mint leaves later use?

2. Freeze: You can freeze mint leaves to preserve flavor using the ice cube method if you plan to keep mint long-term. Remove the mint leaves from the stems and place the leaves in an ice cube tray. Pour water over the tray, then place the tray in the freezer.

How do you use fresh mint leaves for air freshener?

For this natural air freshener, I cut some fresh thyme and mint from my garden and added a lime that I had sliced. I then added a teaspoon of vanilla extract and filled the rest with water. That’s all there is to it. I told you it was easy to make DIY air fresheners from natural ingredients!

Does spearmint deter roaches?

Under normal circumstances, cockroaches are simply too fast to be affected by brief contact. Plus, mint oil is a repellent, so the roaches will likely stay away from it. It’s possible that cockroaches avoid the scent of mint oil because it’s poisonous to them.

Do mint plants keep spiders away?

Mint. Mint is a great natural pest repellent. Most bugs, including spiders, hate mint. Add peppermint essential oil to water in a spray bottle and spray all over your home.

What plant deters spiders?

Marigolds. The strong scent of marigolds (Tagetes spp.) makes these vibrant flowers a potent insect and spider repellent. Of all the marigold varieties, Mexican marigolds (Tagetes erecta) have the strongest scent and they are also the tallest.

Which is better peppermint or spearmint?

If you are looking for a really intense minty flavor in a dish, peppermint is the way to go. If you are looking for a milder minty flavor that won’t overwhelm your dish, spearmint is the better choice.

Does mint keep mice away?

Mice can be easily avoided around your household by simply adding the scent of peppermint in corners where they congregate. Yes, that’s right, peppermint.