Peppermint – How to ID and Enjoy

One week ago, we experienced our first frost. So, I thought it a good idea to check out a large patch of peppermint that I found along a trail for which I have been conducting a wildflower inventory this year. No worries. It remains a vibrant green today!

Peppermint

Peppermint – a closer look.

How to ID –

Peppermint is a non-native forb that prefers wet soils and is occasionally found in our area. Watch a brief video about distinguishing between peppermint and spearmint. Read about planting, growing and harvesting mint.

Enjoy your harvest –

After collecting fresh mint leaves, you are free to use them in a variety of ways – fresh or dried, or perhaps an extract.

My batch of today’s Homemade Mint Jelly (see recipe below).

Read about how to dry the mint you harvested.

Recipes with fresh mint to consider –

• 10 Healthy Ways To Use Fresh Mint
• 63 Fresh Mint Recipes To Help You Use Up That Bumper Crop
• Backyard Mint Ice Cream
• Cooking with Fresh Mint
• Cucumber Peppermint Tea
• Dark Chocolate Mint Leaves
• Fresh Peppermint Tea
• Homemade Mint Jelly
• Homemade Peppermint Extract
• Homemade Peppermint Liqueur
• Homemade Vegan Peppermint and Banana Ice Cream
• How to Candy Mint Leaves
• Mint Julep
• Mojito
• No-Churn, Fresh Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
• Peppermint Bark with Fresh Mint
• Peppermint Patties with Fresh Mint
• Peppermint Syrup and Chocolate Mint Syrup

Before we have a killing frost later this month, I encourage you to check out your favorite peppermint patch and try some of the recipes listed above. Enjoy!

Peppermint along trail

Happy trails!

Autumn-olive Fruit – How to ID and Enjoy

Autumn-olive leaves

View a video on how to identify Autumn-olive. Autumn-olive is considered an invasive species in New York; read more about this plant.

Autumn-olive fruit

The fruit of Autumn-olive contain carotenoids, including considerable amounts of lycopene. A study from 2001 found that “lycopene content per 100 g ranged from 15 to 54 mg in fresh fruit from the naturalized plants” (Fruit of Autumn Olive: A Rich Source of Lycopene. HortScience. 36. 1136-1137); plants like the ones that we find locally and as shown in the photos above. For comparison, tomatoes also contain lycopene, but typically only 3mg per 100 g. Autumn olive berries are also a good source of vitamin C and vitamin E, and they exhibit a strong antioxidant activity (J Med Plants Res. 2012. 6:5196–5203 and Food Technol Biotechnol. 2007. 45:402–409).

Read about how to forage for Autumn-olive berries.

Today’s harvest – 10 cups

Recipes to consider after your harvest –

• Autumnberry-Apple Cider Jam
• Autumn Berry Sparkling Cocktail (NOTE: Make your own puree)
• Autumn Olive & Apple Fruit Leather
• Autumn Olive Berry Jam and Autumn-Olive Jam
• Autumn Olive Butter
• Autumn Olive Cookies
• Autumn Olive Cordial
• Autumn Olive Fruit Leather
• Autumn Olive Jelly
• Autumn Olive Ketchup
• Autumn Olive Mead
• Autumn Olive Simple Syrup
• Autumn Olive Tart
• Autumn Olive Thumbprint Cookies
• Autumn Olive Wine

Please note: By cooking (i.e., boiling) the whole berries, you will kill the seeds. Therefore, if you choose to remove the cooked seeds in preparing this fruit for a recipe, you may simply discard the seeds outdoors without fear of helping to spread this invasive species.  Read more about this plant.

Happy trails!

Hickory nuts now falling

Hickory trees are now dropping their individual loads of ripened nuts.  Shagbark Hickory and Pignut Hickory nuts are the most common and tastiest of the hickory trees found in our area.  Today, I began harvesting some because they are my favorite tree nut and I enjoy the rich flavor that develops when using them in baked goods, especially cookies.

Pignut Hickory nuts

Most of what I found today were Pignut Hickory nuts.  Their husk clings tightly to the shell and each segment must be peeled from the shell before the nut can be cracked open to retrieve those tasty morsels of nutmeats inside.  Other critters also enjoy hickory nuts –

Squirrel’s dinner table…with a view

For more info about how to ID these two species (and also how to ID Bitternut Hickory, which is unpalatable), the best nutcracker to use, and some recipes to try to enjoy your harvest, please view my prior post.

Fall colors mosaic

Happy trails!