Deborah brought up the topic of mint..... I shall see what I can find about it.... there is a lot of stuff about it.

A quick idea... for children fun. Grind some mint leaves, and make ice cubes with them to flavour drinks. Teach the children to recognize the mint plant, pick leaves and get them to cut or grind the leaves and make the ice. If you don't want to use scissors or knives, have them cut up the leaves in tiny bits by hand (like you do with fresh basil). You can also put a whole leaf inside each cube. Ice takes about 7 hours to make, so do it the day before you need them... and see that you invite them to a minty drink the next day!

MINT

Planet: Mercury

Secondary planet: Venus

Element: Air/Water

Secondary element: Earth

Zodiac influence: Gemini

Gender association: Masculine

Helps to dispell confusion, promotes mental and emotional clarity

Used for asthma, bronchitis, colds and the flu. Also useful for tiredness, headaches and stomach upset.

It's an irritating oil, so don't apply directly to the skin. Stimulant, vaseconstrictor, astringent, carminative, antspasmodic, analgesic. Refreshing.

I love spearmint - functions much as peppermint does, but is sweeter and somewhat gentler than peppermint.

I had not remembered about finding mint leaves until I was reading these messages.  We had a "sticker" bush in our front lawn in the city, and under the bush grew mint leaves.  I remember picking them and eating them right off the branch.  They were a little bitter, but still had the mint flavor.  I guess I was lucky that mint is sooooo good for me, huh?

Using mint for stomach upset as mentioned above is *really* effective for some.  I have some really nice English mint my mother gave me a cutting of that is now trying to take over half my side yard, and a small handful of those leaves in a mesh diffuser per pot of tea really helps settle queasiness.  For extra oomph I sometimes slice up about half an inch of peeled ginger root as thinly as I can and add that as well.  It's very mild tasting and soothing.