Herbal Highlights - #Oregano

Often confused with its close relative Marjoram, oregano is a well loved popular herb.  

In the garden, oregano is a perennial that can grow between 18 and 30 inches tall. It has green hair leaves and white/pink flowers that often show in the fall. The plant enjoys full sun, minimal wind and well-drained soil. Cats like to pee in Oregano plants, at least one of mine tries to frequently.

In the kitchen, this herb flavors many Italian and Mediterranean dishes. We make a Greek salad twice a month and we not only sprinkle a fair amount of Oregano on our salad, but our homemade sauce has a lot of oregano in it.

In aromatherapy and herbal medicine, Oregano oil is used as an immune boost. It is strong however and should be used sparingly as some people find oregano oil overpowering. It also has strong antibacterial properties and is loaded with antioxidants.

Select fresh over dried oregano whenever possible if you want to take advantage of the antioxidants and antibacterial properties of the oil.