I am a first born child to two first born children; I can't
help follow rules and lists. When I
started gardening, every book suggested growing herbs. Every list of herbs had oregano near the
top. I was familiar with dried oregano;
it was a staple in my cooking.
I bought a plant—smaller than my hot chocolate mug, and
planted it in my small herb bed. I was
happy, the oregano was happy.
Very happy the next year.
Very, very happy the next year.
Very, very, very happy the next year.
The oregano took over the small herb bed. Eventually in my reading, I found out that
oregano is a cousin to mint, a voracious, invasive plant. Oregano, the Octopus.
We had a spot of grass in the front yard where the grass was
unhappy, sparse, and weedy. We replaced
ugly grass with oregano. Beautiful
oregano! The foliage is green from early
spring until covered by snow. Stalks
grow a foot or two high, covered with small green leaves and topped by delicate
purple flowers. Better than grass, it
doesn't need to be mowed, crowds out weeds, needs no fertilizer, attracts bees,
and can be eaten.
Drying oregano is easy.
Cut off the tall stalks in handfuls, rinse, hang or spread to dry. Commercial operations crush leaves and stems,
but I slide the dry leaves and flowers off the stems, into a container. Last year, I harvested gallons of oregano.
To use fresh oregano, strip the leaves off and chop to
release aroma. In recipes, use three
times the amount of fresh oregano when the recipe calls for dry oregano.
At first I was miffed that oregano broke my orderly herb
garden plan. But I take a deep breath
(mmm, fresh pizza), and remind myself that sometimes rules can be broken.
