Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Mints
LAMIACEAE
The mint family is known for its herbs and medicinal plants: basil, sage, savory, lemon balm,
marjoram, rosemary, peppermint, hyssop—the list goes on and on. All in all more than 3,500
species belong to the mint family, many of them native to Europe. Insects love mints and
crawl deep into the flowers to reach their aromatic nectar. Some apiculturalists use mint fam-
ily plants to make tasty sage or lavender honey. Mints are among the vegetables that are pre-
dominantly or exclusively propagated vegetatively (in this family's case, mainly by runners).
BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Herbaceous and woody mint family plants can be recognized by their
four-sided stems, strong aroma, and flowers with petals in the shape of a lower and upper lip (hence the
former family name, Labiatae). They contain essential oils and often bitter compounds and tannins.
Plants are monoecious and flowers are perfect, each having two longer and two shorter stamens and a
pistil with a two-sectioned stigma.
CHINESE ARTICHOKE
Stachys affinis
The Chinese artichoke is easy to grow in the home garden. Its runners form a dense ground cover of el-
liptical leaves that, raw, are reminiscent of lemon balm or peppermint; and the white tubers that develop
on its roots, like a string of pearls, can be made into many tasty dishes over the winter.
WHAT YOU'LL NEED
• 10 to 15 healthy plants
POLLINATION NOTES
Plants flower only rarely and do not produce viable seed.
PROPAGATION
Chinese artichoke is usually propagated vegetatively, by division of runners or tubers.
Start in pots in early spring, as plants will grow faster this way. Plant out in 10-12 in. (25-30 cm) rows,
4-6 in. (10-15 cm) spacing within the row. Plants are perennial and can be left in the same spot for up
to three years before the soil tires out. Harvest annually to keep plants from competing with one another.
A rhizome barrier can be helpful in the home garden to prevent the plant from spreading.
HARVEST
Since tubers do not develop until short-day season, the harvest has to wait until at least
midautumn, when harvest can proceed continuously as long as the ground is clear. It is all but impos-
sible to harvest all tubers; simply take what you need at any given time, as tubers quickly turn brown
