Oregano is an amazing herb its spicy intense flavour is amazing in Italian and Greek dishes and as a plant it has to be in my opinion one of the easiest to grow.
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Types of oregano
There are a few different varieties of oregano these include the Greek, Italian, common, golden, hot and spicy and marjoram.
I will totally honest that until I started looking into writing about oregano I didn’t realize marjoram was the same as oregano. It is a lot milder and in my opinion very different in taste hence how I would use it in cooking differs. It is also different to grow, and unlike oregano that I enjoy growing and find easy, it is the opposite for marjoram. Not that its very difficult, but just not one I personally like to grow.
For this blog though I will just be looking at common oregano. This is because it is probably the one you will find in your local nursery/ garden centre. It is also the variety I have in my garden.
Starting oregano from seed
Growing oregano from seed is extremely easy. It germinates no problem and once it starts to truly grow it happens quickly.
The seeds themselves are very small so you will not be able to sow each seed individually. Instead you will do what they call broadcasting which simply means sprinkling..
I have learnt a lot this year from starting oregano for the first time from seed. Here are my tips and what I wont do again.
I sprinkled the seeds into a seed pod tray and then once they started to grow I very carefully transplanted them into bigger pots to grow on and then I will move them on to their final locations.
Yeah don’t do that. It was fiddly and more work than I needed to deal with.
Instead, if you are going to be keeping your oregano in pots I would suggest sowing the seeds into their final location. Just make sure that if they are outside the soil and temps are around 8C at night. If they are going to be inside then start them anytime.
In pots
You will need a pot with good drainage holes in the bottom. I would recommend plastic, terracotta or wood. When sowing your seeds make sure you don’t sow too many, so them super super fine, can’t stress that enough, like barely any. You don’t want crowded plants or to have to sit pricking them out to thin them.
Once you have sown your seeds cover very lightly with more soil
Once the seeds are sown then water from the bottom up, not from the top. The reason, the seeds tend to move when watered. So what I mean is place your pot in a tray and fill that with water. The soil will soak up the water. You can also pre wet your soil before sowing the seeds. If you remember.
Place the pot in a bright sunny location, make sure the soil stays moist and doesn’t dry out. Then just watch them grow. When large enough harvest and use in your cooking.
In the ground
For in the ground if where you live is nice and warm then sprinkle your seeds directly on the ground cover lightly with soil and water well.
If its cooler where you are then use a good midsized pots sow some seed very sparingly and evenly then once the plants are a good size transplant then into the ground.
What growing conditions will oregano need
Oregano is a Mediterranean herb which means it likes warmth and great drainage. It will benefit from good soil. I like to take a nice rich soil and mix it with some grit or gravel.
The nice thing with oregano is that you can let it dry out between waterings. I would probably not let it stay dry too long though. It will still like to be watered it just wont like sitting in water.
I have a clump of oregano in the ground that actually gets really quite wet, although it does drain away quite quickly and every winter I think it has died and every year it pops back up again. So it is a very resilliant herb that takes a lot of punishment. Great if your new at gardening and tend to kill plants.
What to plant with oregano
Oregano will grow well with any Mediterranean herbs. Like for example, Rosemary, sage, basil, thyme.
I have grown sweet basil and oregano in a terracotta pot and I love it. Also check out my how to grow basil post, here if you would like to grow your own sweet basil
Give it lots of space to grow, it is part of the mint family and grows that way by spreading out from its roots so it is happy it can take over a bit.
It would also look great growing below tomato plants and very useful as they are great cooking companions.
Uses for oregano
Oregano has a lot of medicinal and herbal properties that can be of great benefit to our health. I will not be going into these properties as I am not qualified to give that advice but I do know oregano oil is amazing and well worth checking out. Use with care though that stuff is strong!
I love to use oregano in vinegrete dressings. I like to make a simple dressing using olive oil, white wine vinegar, mustard, garlic, honey, oregano, salt and pepper. It is amazing on green leaf salad. Greek salad dressing is very similar to this and needs oregano.
Another great us and pretty obvious is in pizza tomato sauce. Oregano has lovely spice to it so use it sparingly it is stronger than basil.
Try using oregano in curries too. It adds a great spicy and peppery flavour.
I hope you enjoy growing and using this easy herb as much as I do.
Happy gardening
Loving the idea how to use more of the oregano