I have a hard time pulling out weeds sometimes. If the weed isn’t something I recognize I’m always a bit worried that I’m actually pulling out a good plant so I usually wait until the weed is large enough I’m sure I don’t want it. Sometimes this backfires though. Like last year, when I thought that the three random little plants coming up in one of my beds were some kind of sunflower. I let them grow and grow until they were taller than me and, honestly, I still don’t know what those things were but I do know they were NOT sunflowers!
This year, my reluctance to pull random seedlings was more beneficial. I noticed some other plants coming up along with my flower seeds in a newly planted flowerbed but since I couldn’t identify them I decided to let them grow. One of them was pretty big before I got the idea to rub one of the leaves to see what it smelled like. When I did… the smell was amazing! I’ve never grown lemon balm before but I am now and I’m super excited. I’m not sure how the seed/plant got into our yard (though I suspect it may have wandered over from our neighbors’ yard) but I’m all ready to try some lemon balm recipes!
I’ve done a little looking around on Pinterest and found some fun ideas I definitely want to try this summer. Basic info for each is below and then I’ll be adding links as I make the recipes.
Iced Lemon Balm Green Tea
This idea is from the website www.growforagecookferment.com which is the one I used to identify my plant. Colleen’s iced tea recipe sounds like just the thing to sip on a hot summer’s day.
Lemon Balm Infused Simple Syrup
I’ve been meaning to make simple syrup for a while now and infusing it with lemon balm sounds even better. I found this idea on the homespunseasonalliving.com website and can’t wait to try it out.
Lemon Balm Infused Honey
This is another idea from homespunseasonalliving.com that sounds pretty tasty. Kathie says it’s great in tea and can be used to flavor desserts. Now to find some desserts to try it with…
Lemon Balm Honey Butter
Similar to the lemon balm honey but different enough I must try them both. I found this idea on thenerdyfarmwife.com and I love that it uses chopped lemon balm leaves rather than being an infusion. I’ll be using dairy-free “butter” but I bet it still tastes great and I can’t wait to try it on some biscuits!
Now I’d love to hear from you. Do you grow lemon balm? What are some of your favorite ways to use it? Please let me know in the comments!