A few weeks ago I went with my mom to an herbal retreat. I mentioned it in my previous post (see here). We were asked to bring our favorite herbal helper - whatever we use to help us through our stressful, crazy, mental and physical challenges. I took my detox tea recipe (see it here) and a batch of it so that everyone could sample it if they chose. Included in this batch I also used Oregano. The reason for that is that Oregano is a super beneficial herb to help with sinus and respiratory issues. Reed and I had both been having issues with that during the time that the class was happening. Just add two teaspoons of dry or 1 tablespoon or fresh oregano to the detox tea recipe. It is a great natural way to solve sinus issues without chemicals.
Oregano is a wonderful little herb that will grow almost anywhere it seems! It is not a perennial here in Alaska, but it will cooperate growing outside in containers or in the ground and it can also be brought inside to help you all winter long if placed in a window with light and a fair amount of heat.
Above shows an oregano that lives in a terra cotta container (it actually lives in a black pot inside the terra cotta one), right outside the greenhouse door. Another of the uses of Oregano is as an insect repellant and since I have two lovely Birch trees outside the greenhouse that sometimes draw aphids I like to have the Oregano as a little buffer to help keep them out of the greenhouse.
It is also a great way to have it handy to harvest a little whenever you have need of it!
Use your herb snips (or any scissors really) to snip the stems just above a two leaf set (that way it will produce two more stems for you to harvest later). I know there are "rules" about harvesting herbs - do it in the morning, once they are dry of dew and before they start to flower - I say poo poo to that! Harvest when you have time and the plant is big enough to handle it! Don't be afraid to snip it! It will be fine!
I like to bundle the stems together and wrap them with a rubber band or one of the bread ties and then clip a binder clip onto that so that herb can hang to dry. I use this method for most of my herbs - thyme is the only one that doesnt really lend itself to this method as it tends to drop its tiny leaves all over the place (more in another blog about thyme).
Above two photos show the Oregano tied and binder clipped ready to hang. My drying rack is so techno advanced! See below....
Gotcha! It is really just tacks pushed into the wood beneath the cupboards and the binder clips hand on them - effectively drying the herbs! Simple but works great!
The above photo shows Sage and two bundles of Oregano in various stages of drying. I harvest a little any time it needs it and bundle it up. After the bundles are dry I strip the leaves off and store them - some in jars in the spice cabinet and some in bags in the apothecary cabinet.
This is a great way to have enough herb that you grew yourself to have all winter, even if you don't have room to bring your herbs inside for the winter to use. I hope you can find a spot for at least a few pots - it doesn't take much. Have fun with it - even if the only place you have is in the bathroom - it'll make the bathroom smell great when the shower steam hits your plants!
Happy Herbing!
No comments:
Post a Comment