Oregano- A Lovely Herb Ideal For The Lazy Gardener! (Oregano)

Member Name: Machair1

Product:	Oregano
Date:	18/04/09 (131 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Tastes wonderful in many dishes.

Disadvantages: None

When my first two children were 4 and 3 we went to Greece on a very special holiday. The destination was to the Greek Island of Karpathos and it was the first time that UK flights had landed there directly. Not a touristy place at all, and we loved the real Greek nature of the people, and the remote landscape. The north of the island was very difficult to visit due to the road being unpaved, and we had to go via boat, landing at the small coastal village of Diafani, from where a coach would traverse the hilly roads to take us to the ancient settlement of Olymbos. This remote isolated village where the traditional Greek costume was still worn was majestic and awe inspiring

It was a place and a time which I will remember for the whole of my life because the heat was searing, and we sat on the coach amidst the smell of Oregano which had been collected and dried, and placed in each seat back to permeate the air. The sun beaming through the windows, the aroma of fresh mountain herbs, and the remote and unique location means that every time I use fresh oregano I stand and smell the fragrance, and I am transported back to that time and place. My little children beaming in the seats as they enjoyed new adventures, and the twinkle in my eye as I suspected a new arrival would soon be coming to our family. It was a simple time and a perfect place.

So ever since that time in 1988 I have had a special love of oregano and of course you can use dried but fresh is so much better, and remarkably easy to grow. It isn't as widely available as the more common herbs, but it should be, because it is in my opinion the best. What I do is to look out for anyone selling the baby plants in about April so now is perfect. If you want to grow them yourself that is fine too. Just sow the seeds 3/4in deep and 6" apart in April outside, and then after the seedlings appear thin to 12" apart. I like to plant mine in pots near to the house so collecting them for cooking is then easy, and doesn't involve trampling over the lawn to a far away herb bed.

They love to be warm and sun baked as they live in Greece and southern places. They will need regular watering when young, but after that will happily sit not watered for ages, and so it's not a great disaster if you go away for a week in July or August. As soon as the plants get going don't be afraid to pick them regularly. I just use scissors and trim off what I need. This stops them flowering too early, because after then the leaves are more bitter. It's only the leaves you want, not the stems, so you just pick them off and use them in your cooking. To be honest it's a plant which is great for the lazy gardener as it doesn't really need much care at all.

If you don't want to grow it you can buy it in Waitrose, where it is described as a sunkissed herb, and a mountain joy with a thyme like fragrance, and a small bunch will cost you 74p.

How I use the herb is varied but my favourite way is to add it to Greek salads, and pasta sauces as well as over new potatoes drizzled with butter. These will be more delicious if you add the herb and are easy to make.

This is my Greek Salad:

Ingredients

Salad leaves pref organic
Beefsteak tomatoes (giant ones you can slice)
Feta sliced
Olive oil dressing, either make your own or buy fresh,- Duchy make a lovely one.
If you want to make your own just mix 100mls of virgin olive oil with 50mls white wine vinegar
Fresh oregano leaves.

Optional Greek olives, sliced red onion, sliced cucumber.

All you do is to arrange the salad leaves on a plate with the other items as you please adding the optional ones if you like. Then pour over the dressing and cover with chopped oregano. Delicious!

All you need to go with it is a lovely glass of Greek wine and you are in heaven!

Oregano is also called Marjoram and is one of my favourite plants. To me it says summer is coming and it takes me back to 1988 in a moment! The twinkle was born and she's 20 now and loves Oregano just as much as me!

Summary: A lovely herb which is easy to grow.