natural living | Incidental Farm Girl
  • Blog
  • About
    • Contact
    • A Mom's Life
  • Homesteading
    • Videos
    • Organic Gardening
    • Chickens on the farm
    • Rabbits on the Farm
  • Homemaking
    • In the Home
    • Home Birth
    • Parenting
    • Recipes
    • Do It Yourself (DIY)
  • Home School
  • Natural Living
    • Homeopathy
  • Cedar's Story
    • Our Story
    • Facts
  • Opinions/Editorials
  • 30 days to Natural Living
  • The Way Grandma Used To...

DIY: Homegrown Peppermint Tea (Homemade)

10/30/2014

0 Comments

 
Hey, this isn't just for farmgirls either, mint grows great in urban flowerbeds too!  You city girls can do this as well.
Picture
Everyone I know who lives in the country has mint growing somewhere on their property...usually they consider it a bit pesky because it gets WAY out of control and takes over wherever you put it.  However, we bought the only property I know of in the country without mint, so off I went to buy some, yes for you country folk I actually PURCHASED some mint...I know, unheard of.  I bought a small container, like the size of a tea cup for $2.99.  What you see above is the growth that has occurred from May until yesterday...pretty impressive huh?  

Well, I certainly couldn't let this mint go to waste, especially since I actually bought it!  I decided to go ahead and make some tea, I love peppermint tea, and it should taste really good this winter when all the fresh leaves are dead.   Mint tea is excellent for a pick me up and aids in digestion and upset stomach.

However, I am kind of an impatient person so instead of hanging my mint upside down to dry I decided to do a quick oven dry...works great but does produce a bit more earthy tasting mint tea due to the fast drying.

I just went outside and clipped a bunch of mint and brought it into the house to wash.  
Picture
Picture
After a good rinsing I patted the springs with papertowels to dry them best I could.  If I were hanging the mint to dry I would ensure they were completely dry by leaving them in a single layer for a few hours, maybe even outside in the sun. But, since I am oven drying I just patted them as best I could and then put a cookie drying rack on top of my pan and laid the sprigs on that.  (side note: I did not go through the painstaking process of removing the leaves as it is much easier to do that once the plant is dried)

I put the pan in my oven at about 180 degrees for around 6 hours with the door to the oven cracked slightly so as not to create a humid environment in the oven.  What you see below is how it looked when I pulled the pan back out.  This is when I go ahead and hold each sprig and just kind of slide my fingers down the stem releasing the leaves as they just kind of crumble off at this point.  I discard the stems to my compost pile and the crush the leaves with my fingers so that they are more like crunchy dust.  

This will keep as loose leaf tea as long as it is completely dry so as not to encourage mold growth and is kept in an airtight container (mason jars work great!)


Picture
So the finished product and my first cup of homegrown organic (I do not use any pesticides whatsoever) peppermint tea!
Picture
Picture
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Want to be "In the Know?"

    * indicates required
    Great selection of bulk herbs, books, and remedies. Articles, Research Aids and much more.
    Picture
    Picture

    Author

    Wife to a wonderful husband, Daughter of the King, Mother of 6 (one with an xtra chromosome), and an incidental farm girl.

    Categories

    All
    30 Days To Natural Living
    A More Natural Way 30 Days To Natural Living
    BIG Family Living
    Chickens
    DIY
    Down Syndrome
    Essential Oils
    Farm Fresh Recipes
    Gardening
    Homeopathy
    Homeschooling
    Homesteading
    Life On The Farm
    Opinions/Editorials
    Our Homebirth Story
    Parenting
    PIgs On The Farm
    Raising Rabbits
    The Way Grandma Used To...

    Archives

    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014

Proudly powered by Weebly