What a busy time it’s been for me! It only feels like yesterday I sat down to write last month’s Druid’s Garden column!

Isn’t it funny what we notice when we are busy and more importantly, the things that go unnoticed! I had a good friend come up and stay with me for a weekend and it was amazing to take stock and notice all the achievements and beauty in the things we experience and see every day. It just goes to show that whether we can see it or not, there truly is great beauty all around us – and as it says in the lessons of Merlin, a wizard is one who views the world anew.

The offering from the Druid’s Garden this month is oregano or Oreganum Vulgare.

Oregano is a member of the mint family and a Mediterranean herb, originating in the mountains of Greece. Its name means “Joy of the mountains” more commonly known in those parts as wild marjoram. The history of this variety is deeply entangled with that of its parent herb marjoram.

The good rockin’ guru of medicine, Hippocrates, used oregano as an antiseptic as well as a cure for respiratory and stomach ailments!

Suffering from insomnia? A mild oregano tea is an amazing sedative – but it’s not good in large doses as it is so strong!

It has great antiseptic properties when used topically due to its high percentage of Thymol, and it’s even been used to aid in the relief of colds, mild fevers, fungal infections, and enteric parasites!

For awhile oregano was having an image crisis, it was a herb just like any other, until pizza rose to prominence and it took oregano with it! Because of this, sales of oregano went up 5200 per cent between 1948 to1956 which is why it was nick named the pizza herb! So we all know it’s great on pizza, but what else can we do with oregano?

Here is my favourite vego recipe!! It’s simple, clean, and tasty as! Heat up a pan with some olive oil, a few crushed garlic cloves, and ¾ of a teaspoon of dried oregano until the garlic browns. Snap some beans in half and toss in the pan till slightly tender and coated. Splash with lemon juice and cracked pepper and enjoy!

Oregano is a perennial and just loves full sun. It grows best in well drained soils that are fertile. If you’re planting from seed, be patient. Oregano does take a while to germinate and detests frost and tall weeds which overpower it easily. Oregano has beautiful flowers too that can also be eaten!

When using oregano, go for the leaves, and discard the stems. You can take a few good harvests per year from a healthy plant, and it’s best to harvest when there aren’t too many yellow leaves.

Oregano is a herb that’s like my humor – it gets stronger the dryer it is! Check out the wonders of oregano today!!

 www.DruidsGardenOnline.com
Sponsored by Health Essentials
Visit: www.healthessentials.com.au