Grasshopper in the organic mint

One of the problems with organic gardening is that you can't just give a blast of insecticide or herbicide from time to time to reduce pests. So far, we haven't had any major problem, so touch wood that continues.

Often in the morning I cut some organic mint to make some lovely tea - mint tea is very nice for an unsettled stomach, so it's good when you have a hangover too :)

When I was picking off the wilted leaves and such, it suddenly turned out that this guy had come in with the mint


Grasshoppers are officially of the suborder Caelifera, but apart from that I dunno what it was. It was about 4-5 cm long, and you can see how it blends in with the green of the leaves. Its main defence strategy seemed to be to freeze and hope nobody sees it, which was useful for taking photos of it!

Organic Mint Tea

The organic mint I grew from cuttings has progressed very well :) Though it's the pot that I was expecting to do less well that has done better - this may have something to do with interfering dogs though... :)


It's important to trim the mint so that it gets more bushy, so I took the first opportunity to harvest some to make some tea. It smells wonderful when you cut it, so fresh and invigorating!


How to make organic mint tea (easy):
• Some organic green tea (or black if you prefer)
• Some organic sugar (optional)
• Organic mint

Put it all in a cup and pour in boiling water. Sorted!


It was nice, and had a lovely aftertaste. But, to be honest, it didn't have that 'in your face' mint taste I was looking for; my comparison for good mint tea is Moroccan mint tea, and I wonder whether they use spearmint (Mentha spicata) or peppermint? The plant I have is spearmint (the kind they use in toothpaste normally), and I prefere peppermint sweets to spearmint.

Hmmm... a rapid search via Google (detailed info here) doesn't tell me much apart from that most 'Moroccan mint' teas on the market use one or the other, or a mix.

Growing organic mint from cuttings

Well, I love to have fresh mint tea, and some fresh mint can really improve some dishes, so I've been meaning to grow some for a while now. Typically I buy a bunch like this from the pasar malam (night market)


There are many types of mint, but I think this kind is spearmint, or Mentha spicata. It will cost about RM1.50 (apprx. 40 US cents), but the problem is that mint quickly wilts and goes mushy. No doubt it has also been sprayed with pesticides, etc.

I had been looking around for seeds or plants, and then someone told me that they are easy to grow from cuttings - so I did a quick Google and found this helpful guide (it's a pdf).

First, strip the stalks of the lower leaves (reduces water loss through transpiration apparently).


Secondly, plant in a pot - I just buried as much as I could in the soil as the roots will grow from the nodes where the leaves were.


Importantly, note that mint is very invasive - put it in a pot, or bottomless pot in the ground.

Apparently, you can also get the roots started in water (like here), so I'm trying that too.


It will be interesting to see the roots growing. I put some of my organic vermicompost in the water to supply nutrients.

It will take 2-3 weeks to get some results, will update then.