Oregano

Description

(Origanum vulgare) Oregano is one of the best and hardiest herbs for cooking, and it has one of the strongest flavours too. A staple herb of Italian-American cuisine it has an aromatic, warm, and slightly bitter taste, which can vary in intensity. Good-quality oregano may be strong enough almost to numb the tongue but cultivars adapted to colder climates often have a lesser flavour.

Oregano is a perennial herb, growing from 20–80cm tall, with spade-shaped, olive-green leaves 1–4cm long. The flowers are purple, 3–4mm long and produced in erect spikes. Plant in early spring, spacing the plants 30cm apart in fairly dry soil, with full sun. It prefers a hot, relatively dry climate but does well in other environments. Pinch or harvest from the plants frequently to keep them bushy.

Its popularity in the U.S. began when soldiers returning from World War II brought back with them a taste for the "pizza herb", which had probably been eaten in southern Italy for centuries. There, it is most frequently used with roasted, fried, or grilled vegetables, meat, and fish. Oregano combines well with spicy foods popular in southern Italy.

Unlike many of the Mediterranean herbs you can grow in the garden today, Oregano -'Origanum vulgare' is perhaps the hardiest. So tough is its constitution that, after being introduced to Great Britain by the Romans, it became naturalised in the wild and has remained something of a ‘wild flower' ever since across large parts of the country.

Seeds/Packet: (min. 50 Seeds)