The Great Chocolate Mint Rebellion

**Mischka** · June 4, 2007

I was warned but I didn't listen.

Three years ago, I planted a 4 inch pot of "Chocolate" Mint (it really does smell and faintly taste like it) in the far corner of my garden area.

It has taken some tips from it's no-doubt distant cousin, the kudzu, and has taken over a 6 x 8 area, mercilessly snuffing out my garlic chives and oregano and is now steadfastly creeping inward toward my cukes.

I took a hoe and a spade to it last year and thought I had established a no-man's land, but it has violated it with a vengeance.

Beware the Chocolate Mint and his ilk, the rest of the mint family...they have no respect for boundries!

tomakers · June 4, 2007

Bee Balm is another, if you don't watch it. It's beautiful, but it's everywhere!

johno · June 5, 2007

6x8 what? yards or miles?

Worth1 · June 5, 2007

The only mint I have is spearmint, it shouldn't be a problem.
Way too far from anything else I care about.

I mean real far.

Worth

**Mischka** · June 5, 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by johno

6x8 what? yards or miles?

LOL feet.

The sad part is, I really don't know what to use the mint for. The slight chocolate overtones would probably not fare well with any type of meat.

What do other folks here do with their mint? I'd love to see a few creative uses for it...before I take the backhoe to it and rip it all out.

Worth1 · June 5, 2007

I us spearmint and hibiscus for iced tea.
Us semi Texas Mexicans use chocolate on meat.
Not very sweet coco it is called mole sauce.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mole_(sauce)
I think I would get the back hoe and just buy some mole sauce.

Worth

felpec · June 5, 2007

I use the mint patch (planted by previous owners) to test weed killers...I have (almost) gotten rid of poison ivy, English ivy and garlic mustard, but the mint marches on.

Why couldn't tomatoes have the "impossible to kill and grows rampant" gene instead of the mint (which, like Mischka, I can't think of any way to use it)?

Spatzbear · June 5, 2007

I have a few different mint varieties in big pots outside. But even in pots you have to keep an eye on them.

The chocolate mint, for example, has been trying to jump out of the pot. It's like the little shop of horror. The tentacles are creeping over the rim when you are not looking.

The peppermint, on the other hand, is very well behaved. It just grows upwards.

I like the smell of chocolate mint, but haven't found any good use for it either. Yet.

soil_lover · June 5, 2007

Cholocate mint is good chopped up in homemade cookies or when making hot chocolate.

shelleybean · June 5, 2007

I don't grow the chocolate mint but I'd imagine desserts would be the best use for it. I grow Spearmint for tea and tabouleh and pineapple mint that I use in fruit salads.

Worth1 · June 5, 2007

Use it to dress up some hot chocolate with Rumple Minze.

You have a lot of Rumple Minze to drink.

Worth

Granny · June 7, 2007

One way to keep your mint in bounds is to plant the mint in a big pot, then bury the pot. We have a variety of mints - chocolate, orange, spearmint, peppermint. Of the bunch, the orange is doing the best. Last year the chocolate got huge, but it died back when we moved it. The spearmint needs a saucer of beer - the snails appear to love it.

The chocolate is very nice in desserts, makes a nice garnish for chocolate-mint things.

johno · June 7, 2007

I'm not certain if what I am growing is peppermint or chocolate mint (long term memory loss...) but it has chocolatey-looking coloration in places...

Anyway, either would work as well. I tried applying some mint leaves to a severe toothache last night (as I'm fresh out of clove oil...) and in a few minutes it began numbing the pain. It works at least as well as anything else I've tried, and better than benzocaine gel.

supergirl · July 3, 2007

I'm with Worth -- my immediate thought was "cocktails"! Maybe a chocolatey mojito. Something with Godiva liqueur, or Kahlua. Or, since now I'm thinking dessert, maybe on ice-cream, or with berries. Chocolate mint with strawberries or raspberries sounds pretty good.

**coronabarb** · July 7, 2007

"The sad part is, I really don't know what to use the mint for..."

Oh my gosh, chocolate mint makes the best iced tea in the heat of summer. Okay, go ahead and put some sugar in it, if you must. I grow it (in a pot) only for this use. Smash up the leaves, put in boiling water to steep for awhile, cool and pour over ice. YUM!

June 4, 2007	#1
Mischka Tomatoville® Administrator Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: The Bay State Posts: 3,207	The Great Chocolate Mint Rebellion I was warned but I didn't listen. Three years ago, I planted a 4 inch pot of "Chocolate" Mint (it really does smell and faintly taste like it) in the far corner of my garden area. It has taken some tips from it's no-doubt distant cousin, the kudzu, and has taken over a 6 x 8 area, mercilessly snuffing out my garlic chives and oregano and is now steadfastly creeping inward toward my cukes. I took a hoe and a spade to it last year and thought I had established a no-man's land, but it has violated it with a vengeance. Beware the Chocolate Mint and his ilk, the rest of the mint family...they have no respect for boundries! __________________ Mischka One last word of farewell, Dear Master and Mistress. Whenever you visit my grave, say to yourselves with regret but also with happiness in your hearts at the remembrance of my long happy life with you: "Here lies one who loved us and whom we loved." No matter how deep my sleep I shall hear you, and not all the power of death can keep my spirit from wagging a grateful tail.

June 4, 2007	#2
tomakers Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2006 Location: Cranberry Country, SE MA - zone 6? Posts: 353	Bee Balm is another, if you don't watch it. It's beautiful, but it's everywhere! __________________ I never met a fish I didn't like.

June 5, 2007	#9
soil_lover Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Eureka MO Posts: 15	Chocolate mint Cholocate mint is good chopped up in homemade cookies or when making hot chocolate.

June 5, 2007	#10
shelleybean Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Virginia Beach Posts: 2,648	I don't grow the chocolate mint but I'd imagine desserts would be the best use for it. I grow Spearmint for tea and tabouleh and pineapple mint that I use in fruit salads. __________________ Michele

July 7, 2007	#15
coronabarb Tomatoville® Recipe Keeper Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Roseburg, Oregon - zone 7 Posts: 2,821	"The sad part is, I really don't know what to use the mint for..." Oh my gosh, chocolate mint makes the best iced tea in the heat of summer. Okay, go ahead and put some sugar in it, if you must. I grow it (in a pot) only for this use. Smash up the leaves, put in boiling water to steep for awhile, cool and pour over ice. YUM! __________________ Corona~Barb Now an Oregon gal

June 5, 2007	#3
johno Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Arkansas zone 6b Posts: 441	6x8 what? yards or miles?

June 5, 2007	#4
Worth1 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Den of Drunken Fools Posts: 38,539	The only mint I have is spearmint, it shouldn't be a problem. Way too far from anything else I care about. I mean real far. Worth

June 5, 2007	#7
felpec Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Zone 5/6 New Jersey Posts: 122	I use the mint patch (planted by previous owners) to test weed killers...I have (almost) gotten rid of poison ivy, English ivy and garlic mustard, but the mint marches on. Why couldn't tomatoes have the "impossible to kill and grows rampant" gene instead of the mint (which, like Mischka, I can't think of any way to use it)?

June 5, 2007	#8
Spatzbear Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Adelaide Hills, Australia Posts: 349	I have a few different mint varieties in big pots outside. But even in pots you have to keep an eye on them. The chocolate mint, for example, has been trying to jump out of the pot. It's like the little shop of horror. The tentacles are creeping over the rim when you are not looking. The peppermint, on the other hand, is very well behaved. It just grows upwards. I like the smell of chocolate mint, but haven't found any good use for it either. Yet.

June 7, 2007	#12
Granny Tomatovillian™ Honoree Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 507	One way to keep your mint in bounds is to plant the mint in a big pot, then bury the pot. We have a variety of mints - chocolate, orange, spearmint, peppermint. Of the bunch, the orange is doing the best. Last year the chocolate got huge, but it died back when we moved it. The spearmint needs a saucer of beer - the snails appear to love it. The chocolate is very nice in desserts, makes a nice garnish for chocolate-mint things.

July 3, 2007	#14
supergirl Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2006 Location: Palo Alto, CA Posts: 107	I'm with Worth -- my immediate thought was "cocktails"! Maybe a chocolatey mojito. Something with Godiva liqueur, or Kahlua. Or, since now I'm thinking dessert, maybe on ice-cream, or with berries. Chocolate mint with strawberries or raspberries sounds pretty good.