How paleo are mint leafs? They are really the only wild plant around here:/

[intouchwithinstinct]

I find them all the time when I'm hiking and I enjoy a good nibble on them.  My mum taught me when I was a kid to eat them when I have a stomach ate she said her mum taught her.  I don't know how paleo they are though, or if they contain much antinutraints.  I know in general any plant food does, but I believe where omnivores and that we can eat plants and animals plentifully.  I tend to avoid any plant that I get a bad reaction from(nightshades make me BLAAA!) and anything I know is just bad, like soy and such.  Variety is impotent in my diet. 

Anyways I'm rambling on allot for a simple question.  Mint leafs, whats you guys(and gals) opinions on eating them?

[RawZi]

    Mint is one of the few herbs I stomach.  Mint is nice, IMO.  I've always liked it.  Strange, one of the few plants I can eat easily with no bad reaction is similar to catnip.  Have you tried that?

[intouchwithinstinct]

Rawzi, Haha Ironically I have but not in a health concouis context.  Back in my younger days, someone bet me that if it gets a cat gest high that it must get a human high as well.  This was about 2:00 in the morning and it had no effect as I put it on the roof of my mouth.  As I remember we all got restless then went garden raiding the old Ukrainian man next door.  Aw joyfull childhood memory's.

Yea I never seem to have got a bad reaction to it yet so I was thinking it must be alright, plus it seems to be a fairly wild plant that grows plentifully in nice moist conditions.  Interestingly I noticed a connection recently, I put all my eggshells/whites out with the plants out back as I don't consume them.  I also put all the bones I don't eat there.  and the mint leafs seem to grow more plentifully around the areas I spill these access compost items I don't use more.  Could just be a coincidence who knows.

[RawZi]

I put all my eggshells/whites out with the plants out back as I don't consume them.  I also put all the bones I don't eat there.  and the mint leafs seem to grow more plentifully around the areas I spill these access compost items I don't use more.  Could just be a coincidence who knows.

    Sounds sensible to me.  Maybe it wouldn't grow there if other types of waste were put there.  Instead other things might grow.  I like gorilla gardening too.  It's the best  I've done it, not regular gardening though.  When I gorilla garden, I love the way things look, such beautiful herbs wind up growing in formations (or chaos) I don't think humans can create intentionally, like a jungle on a much smaller scale.  I call it gorilla gardening now, as people would understand that term.  I just called it throwing down peels, pulp etc and seeing beautiful plants later.

[djr_81]

First of all the mint plant is extremely invasive and will grow just about anywhere. The only other plant I've personally seen close to it's tenacity is Amaranth. I'm not saying it's a bad thing (it's a wonderful thing to mow your lawn and get pockets of fresh mint scent) but it'd take a lot for it to not grow somewhere. The egg whites, shells, and bones though are a fantastic fertilizer and are definitely helping the mint flourish more than it'd naturally do.

As for the use of it I think of mint more as a medicinal herb than a dietary food. It's got fantastic abilities to soothe an upset stomach which you've seen. My mother used mint and chamomile when we were growing up (either her own herbs or Celestial Seasoning's "Sleepytime" tea) to deal with almost all of our upset stomach issues.

[William]

Rub mint leaves on skin; bugs won't bite.

[intouchwithinstinct]

Rawzi, That's the best term yet for my style of gardening!  I also love doing experiments with plants, I have two potted plants in my room that I feed and water all sorts of different things.  I think having plants in the house (especialy H2O beneficial plants)  Is very paleo!

djr_81,  I agree I wouldn't put it as a food source.  But it is medical and I like crushing it up and sprinkling fresh on some of my meats for sure.

William, Natures bug repellent!  We use to use sage back home when I was a kid.  It grows on the ground all over where I grew up.  Mint would have a nice scent to it as well.

Any other herbs that are easily found growing wild people are fond of here?