"Growing Oregano"

Oregano is in the same family as marjoram. In fact wild marjoram is said to be the same plant - it shares the same latin name anyway!

Although it's used to flavour pizzas and pasta dishes, and is thought to originate from Italy, it probably came from Greece.

Once established, your plants will last for three or four years before they need to be replaced, although they should be protected in cold winters with a mulch.

If grown in containers, they can be brought inside during the cold months, and will probably provide fresh herbs right through the year if nurtured!

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Thompson and Morgan, worldwide seed company, have a couple of different varieties available:

This variety and is available from UK or US supplies:
Growing Oregano in the US
Oregano in the UK
For all other countries start here: Thompson and Morgan Worldwide

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Planting:

Start the seeds off early in the spring and keep warm and watered until the plants are ready to plant out in the garden. Sprinkle seeds on warm seed compost in small pots and keep on a sunny windowsill or in the greenhouse until they germinate. Spray the soil with water rather than pouring water onto the seeds as they can get damaged easily. After all danger of frost has passed and the ground outside has warmed up a little, plant the small plants out in the garden or transplant into containers or larger pots.

Choose a sunny spot and allow about 12 inches (30cm.) between plants. The ground or containers should be well drained.

Caring for your plants:

Oregano is happy to tolerate dry conditions and shouldn't be watered in damp weather. The plants will rot. Only water during very hot dry periods. When the plants start producing flowers, pinch them off - this will encourage the plants to produce more leaf and get bushier. Plants tends to trail and can be cut back to stop it taking over a whole herb bed.

Harvesting:

When the plants have stems around 6 inches (15cm.) tall and at least a dozen leaves you can start taking the leaves to use in the kitchen. When the plant is around 6-8 inches tall (15-20cm.) the whole plant can be cut down and used. The plant will re-grow and produce more stems and probably get even bushier than it was before.

Alway double check on growing recommendations on your seed packets as each variety will have different needs and, also, the times to plant will depend on your region.

Happy Gardening!

More "Garden Herbs" reading

http://www.flower-and-garden-tips.com/oregano.html