Drying mint for winter usage

We have been working on drying some of the mint I planted last fall.  There are so many different kinds of mint it can be mind boggling.  We only have two kinds right now.  Mainly because you have to be careful where you plant it and I have run out of places......for now.

We have Peppermint and Candy-Apple Mint.  The mound to the left is the Peppermint.  As you can see it is spreading very quickly and can easily take over a garden bed if you don't contain it.

I like to pick the stalks on a nice sunny day, right before the mint blooms.  After picking a hand full of stalks I tie them up into a bundle and hang it upside down on the back porch.  The bundles get a small amount of morning sun there but are mostly in the shade to dry.

Once the bundles are dry, I use a big tray I have and kind of break up the leaves and put them mint into a sealed jar.  This jar goes into the pantry for later use.  I use the mint in cold tea that has other herbs in it.  The mint makes the tea palatable since some of the  other herbs can be bitter.  We make mint teas for stomach aches.  I use mint in ointments and give it to the goats sometimes in the winter.  Candy-Apple mint is excellent in iced tea of with lemonade and is lovely in your bath water.  It smells so good. 

This mound of Candy-Apple mint is planted on the corner of the big barn.  It gets the left over milk and water from the udder wash pail every morning.

If you don't have any mint, you should try some.  It is very easy to grow.  Just be sure you plant it in a location that has a lot of room and it can spread out where it wants.  Or you can plant it in a pot and bury the pot in the ground.