Gardening

This plant is an excellent choice for growing in the garden or indoors. Unlike other mints, this versatile herb has a sweeter odor and taste. Adding it to sweet treats like baked goods or homemade ice cream is a great idea. Using dried spearmint as a tea is a great way of soothing your stomach, and it is much lighter than regular mint and easier for kids to drink. We love the light and airy flavor of spearmint. How to grow spearmint from seed The mint family, including spearmint, loves full sun, making it an excellent herb for a pot to prevent it from overtaking a garden bed. To help contain spearmint's natural expansion in the garden, plant it with a deep border edging. Depending on how large you grow it, spearmint can reach a height of 18 to 24 inches. For spearmint planting, you will want a well-draining, fertile soil with plenty of fresh compost mixed in to provide the plants with the necessary nutrition. Spearmint does well in partial shade but prefers full sun. When growing flavorful herbs such as cilantro, it is best to stop fertilizing at least six weeks prior to harvest to help slow the plant growth and accelerate flavor concentration. If your spearmint plants have grown well and developed a few sets of true leaves, you can start harvesting the leaves regularly for regular use, taking a third of the plant each time until the end of the season, when a full harvest may be harvested and dried. How to grow spearmint from cuttings Growing spearmint from seeds is fine, but cuttings are a great way to start a new plant later in the season by starting with scraps of food or cuttings taken from a friend's garden. If you want to start spearmint from a cutting, make sure it is as fresh as possible. Remove a spearmint stem from the plant using clean garden shears or scissors. Put the lower leaves of the mint in a glass of water after removing them from the plant. Make sure the water remains fresh by changing it daily. Make sure your glass receives indirect sunlight. Your spearmint cutting should have roots within a week and can be planted into a loose, fertile potting soil mix or into the garden with at least 1 inch of well-draining soil and compost. How to grow spearmint indoors The best way to enjoy spearmint in the winter is to grow it indoors. During the winter you can move a posted spearmint inside or you can start new plants before the first freeze for indoor growing. In order for spearmint to thrive indoors over the winter, you'll need to keep it well-watered and provide a sunny window or an LED grow light. We are using a pop-up greenhouse indoors this year to make it easy to grow all of our fresh herbs and even some of our favorite vegetables inside over the winter.