Apple Mint - Mentha Rotundifolia, M. Suaveolens 

The wonderful 'wooly' mint  called APPLE MINT

This wonderful aromatic species of the mint family has a pleasant, fruity taste and is so much sweeter than other mints. In fact, this is the only mint in my garden that I will dry for winter use as it keeps it's wonderful appley scent whereas the others - orange mint, chocolate mint, peppermint and pineapple mint - lose theirs when dried.

Apple Mint is also less invasive than the other varieties of mints - ask me how I know this! It's soft, round leaves are slightly wrinkled and can grow to a height of about 2 feet. While it grows best in rich, moist soil, my patch of apple mint tolerates just about anything from neglect to over watering!

In mid summer, here in the heart of Missouri, it flowers around July and the beautiful dancing Blue Swallowtail butterflies make it a daily habit of visiting my apple mint patch. I try to make it a routine to make it out there in the early morning so that I can visit with these beautiful creatures and sometimes they grace me with their presence by landing on my fingers.

There are many ways to use Apple Mint (or any of the various mints) and you can try them all. The easiest is to simply pick a few leaves or a stalk and pop the cleaned leaves into a icey drink and let it naturally flavor your water or ice tea. Another way is to take the leaves and put them in an ice cube tray for pretty little ice cubes to add to your iced drinks. And of course a third way for beverages is to dry the leaves in a dehydrator and bag them when thoroughly dry in a baggie, or in a glass jar and enjoy all winter long!

Medicinally, I like to infuse olive oil with various mints although I have to admit that I have not tried Apple Mint in any of my concoctions! If you have, please don't hesitate to let me know.

And...if you would like to plant some Apple Mint - I certainly can spare a few good shoots! Email me  and we'll work it out.

Pam

ALL OF IN ANCIENT FOOTSTEPS ANOINTING OILS ARE MADE FROM EXTRA-VIRGIN, KOSHER OLIVE OIL FROM ISRAEL, BLENDED WITH PURE ESSENTIAL OILS AND SPICES, USING SOME OF THE SAME APOTHECARY METHODS AS IN BIBLICAL DAYS. 

The above was from abbaoil.com