loose tea?

Chocolate mint plant!? I'll have to go in search of that one.

If I plant it with "regular" mint will overtake or be overtaken? Or should it be able to hold it's own....may just have to dedicate the entire bed the mint is in to "mints". I'm sure the mint ran everything else out in the 2 years we've been in the EU.

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Jen
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I'll have to look for the chocolate mint plant. My daughter loves the chocolate tea we get at a tea house that is in a town nearby, and to be able to grow some our own would be a great thing for our preps. We generally have about 2-3 cups of herbal teas a day, and then one of regular tea. I would have to give up the regular tea in an event, as that is one thing I only stock for about 3-6 months as I find the taste gets off after much longer storage. I wonder if refrigeration or freezing would help. I know I'm not the only one to feel this way about taste after storage as the lady I purchase teas from at the tea house and also one at a health food store also don't like teas stored for long periods.

As far as mint plants, I have a couple in hanging baskets, that way they don't mix with other plants, or take over an area. I also have one raised garden that is made out of cinderblocks, and I have a lot of my herbs and mints planted in the blocks, which helps prevent them from spreading.

Dawn

We are huge tea drinkers. Here's my favorite site (reasonable prices too and you can order samples). Also, you can create your favorite custom blend at no more than other prices: http://www.adagio.com/

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It's mint. It spreads What I've done, if I want to keep various mints in the same area, is to put cement blocks in the ground, and then plant inside the holes in the blocks. Keeps the little boogers from spreading. This particular plant seems to be pretty tough. I managed to kill off the peppermint I'd planted, but this stuff just keeps coming back year after year. I always know it's back when I mow over it and get that sweet chocolatey/minty scent in the air

I've been using lemon mint for iced drinks in the summer. It's GREAT with bourbon! A sort of lemony version of the Mint Julep

I drink 2 full pots of tea (that's 2 liters or so) every morning while doing whatever. Then in the afternoon I usually have a cup of oolong or a Jasmine Green tea as a 'relaxing moment". I figure I should get off the caffeine and just go to straight herbal teas...but it's like coffee..I just REALLY like the taste. (cant' have more than 1 cup coffee every couple days anymore...really tears my stomach up)

I truly think that in any preparation for even a big "this is it...we're going to the dark ages now" event...you NEED to keep some of the civilized things around you. I remember a story from WWII, where the british commanders insisted on keeping to a regimen of afternoon tea, even when they didn't have any tealeaves...as a morale thing. It worked. The men said afterwords that it was the only sane thing in the war.

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Here's my favorite tea site -

http://www.uptontea.com

I was going to suggest Chinatown (anycity)...they have bulk tea for a couple bucks a can...My Fave is in a yellow can "The au jasmine"...its a favorite with the Vietnamese people. I have teapots, small and large, where there are holes near the spout, or I use a tea balll for just a cup

Good idea. If we every go on a vacation in a town with a "Chinatown" I'll have to do that. Last time I was near a city that I think had one was 5-6 years ago, and it was 3 or 4 states away. Even my "tea shop" is an hour and a half away. It's not that we live that rural....we don't. It's just those types of places have no draw to where we live. Although in the last 2 1/2 years a tea shop may have moved closer....I'll have to check.

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Jen
If my typo's bother you, come on over and take a chair. We can discuss it over some "ham and swill calzones"
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My mint was originally planted in a sunken container. It worked great for years. Apparently, one winter my container cracked and I didn't catch it in time (I was too busy with tiny children to care). So it spread just at a slower rate then it normally takes over, I did work on taming it for a few years after that. I'm wondering what it might be like now after going "un-checked" for 3 growing seasons....hence I may just give that bed up to the mints of the world!

Now to find lemon mint.....I have lemon balm - are they similar?

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Jen
If my typo's bother you, come on over and take a chair. We can discuss it over some "ham and swill calzones"
Follow us at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimisod/