If you've noticed a minty funk recently, blame nepitella.

The herb, otherwise known as Tuscan mint, has appeared in small doses on local menus over the last few years.

This summer, though, it's omnipresent.

In Italy, skunky nepitella is traditionally paired with mushrooms. San Francisco's Italian-food purists have emulated that combination. The herb is mixed with porcini for a pizza topping at Pizzeria Delfina, and nepitella thwacks a giardiniera of pickled fennel and carrot at A16 (click here to download the recipe) that chef Liza Shaw serves alongside roasted lamb.

The intense herb has leapt from its Italian origins, too. At Bar Tartine, it sharpens a salad of shaved summer squashes, upland cress and San Andreas cheese. In Nombe's izakaya-inspired way with the same base ingredient, the herb is tossed with summer squash and a zippy ponzu sauce, and at Zero Zero it seeps its musk into a refreshing watermelon salad.

If you want to fiddle with the funk at home, Annabelle Lenderink of La Tercera typically carries nepitella ($1.50 a bunch) at her farmers' markets stand. Or, plant your own plot by purchasing a starter ($3.75) from Flatland Flower Farm.

The herb is so popular, we saw a farmer do precisely that at the market the other week.

Available at La Tercera's stand: Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, Tues., 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; or Berkeley Farmers' Market, Center St. and M.L. King Jr. Way, Sat., 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Starters available at Flatland Flower Farm's stand; Ferry Plaza Farmers Market; Sat., 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.