Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Oregano

Do you grow oregano? If you don't you should really try, it's very easy but be warned it self seeds and you will soon find it everywhere, even in the oddest places, like cement cracks and clear on the other side of your yard. On the bright side it's easy to pull as the roots don't seem to go very deep.

I have a large yard so I let it do it's thing. I like the plant, I like the way it grows into a little bush and the bees love the flowers. A featured gardener I read about last year in Gardens West magazine used oregano to border a path, very clever.

So what to do with your large crop of oregano???? Well I dried it. I read all sorts of articles on how to best dry herbs...pick it mid morning after the dew has dried, just before it flowers, hang it, dry it in a brown paper bag....





Well for me the best time to pick it is before the spit bugs get to it, they gross me out... and I dry it in my dehydrator. I have dried herbs in paper bags but sadly I forget all about them....and find them a year later when I dry the next batch of herbs in paper bags.



And this is the final result, not very much after harvesting a large mound of oregano. But I will pick some more in a few months time.


5 comments:

Powell River Books said...

I thought I had oregano but I think it is actually some kind of basil. Still tastes good. I just bought the large leaf kind of basil to plant. I love it fresh on fresh tomatoes. I dry quite a few herbs at the cabin. Sometimes I cheat and put it in pans near the wood stove. Probably loose some flavour that way. When I don't have much to dry I mix it all together and call it Margy's Mix. Works good in my soups. - Margy

Anonymous said...

Using it to border a path - what an interesting idea. I bet it looked great.

Vi said...

Will have to get some oregano.
I have been wanting a dehydrator for ages now...do you find it good? Worth buying?

Margaret said...

Hi Vi, the answer to your dehydrator is yes and no. Yes because it makes quick work of herbs and no because if you don't keep an eye on it it can burn what you are trying to de-hydrate. Maybe a more expensive model would have been better for me because I have been know to forget a thing or two....I dried out some lemon balm but I forgot about it...it's so dry that it turns into powder when I touch it...

Vi said...

Thanks for your reply Margaret. That's good to know.
If you don't mind me asking...how long does it take to dry herbs? Or is it different times depending on the type of herb that's drying?