I have an abundance of mint in my garden — which is partially my fault because I deliberately transplanted some mint from the front garden to the back — I knew I might regret this, since mint is really weedy, but so far, I kind of like it as a ground cover. It’s invasive, and I’ve pulled a lot of it out, but I also really love this mint in particular — it’s somewhere between a spearmint and a peppermint — not too strong and not too sweet. I crush up a big handful in my pot of tea every morning, and I’ve become slightly addicted this spring to the combination of mint, garlic and hot peppers in any number of recipes. So, the mint was a little out of hand, and it was also really lovely — later in the summer it gets sort of scraggly — so I picked a whole basketful to dry for my tea all winter (I can’t really drink coffee — it makes me shake and gives me a stomach ache).

So, I sorted out the stalks — pulled the bindweed off where it had crept in, and made these big bundles (they were a little too big, actually, and didn’t dry out as quickly as I would have liked) and then I hung them in this interior window. The whole kitchen smelled very green for a few days … WHen they were crunchy, I took them down and stripped the dried leaves into mason jars. I have three big mason jars of mint — definitely enough for winter.