A sprig of mint in your pan when cooking new potatoes is the first taste of true summer. The mint gives new potatoes just a gentle hint of minty flavour and it is delicious. Mint is also very easy to grow and there are many types. The most popular, especially for adding to new potatoes, is garden mint or Mentha spicata. It is so easy to grow that it will spread rapidly if not kept in check so a popular way to grow it is in a large container. As pictured the container can then be sunk into the ground. The larger the container the more room your mint will have to grow and you will get a bigger clump from which to harvest. Make sure there are holes in the bottom of the pot and you could line the bottom of the pot before planting with some black landscape membrane or some capillary matting just in case the holes are large enough for roots to escape from. Fill the pot with spare soil from the garden and plant up. Label the spot and water well. Sink the pot into the ground in a site that does get some sun but partial shade during the day is fine.
Once you get a few shoots growing in the spring nip a couple of these off and drop into the pan when you cook your new potatoes.
Every couple of years you may need to lift the pot and split the plant up and replant a section in the pot to keep it growing well and producing plenty of good young growth.
