Eden Hill Journal

Ramblings and memories of an amateur wordsmith and philosopher

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Location: Maine, United States

Wednesday, September 06, 2017

Greek Oregano in the Maine Highlands

Two or three years ago I started a small rock garden out in my back yard for growing some Greek oregano from seed that I am thinking came from Fedco down in Clinton just off I-95. For years I had a small oregano patch that never did much growing but did come back year after year despite its shady location. I attribute its survival to compost-enriched soil more than to any other factor. Who'd a thunk something like oregano would grow up here in the Maine Highlands!
This summer my rock garden oregano patch finally thrived, most likely because last winter I cut quite a few of the mostly linden shade trees that have for decades been expanding their reach over and under my back yard garden. So last month I harvested a very large fistful of fresh green oregano stalks just as the plants were flowering. They've been hanging overhead downstairs by the woodstove and have been dry for weeks. Today I decided I'd see just what it was that I had so I took a large stainless bowl and crumpled my dry treasure by hand to get as many of the stems out as I could. What I wound up with from my tiny rock garden was more than a quart jar full of oregano spice.
To test the worth of this new treasure I heated a can of Campbell's Tomato Soup mixed with some raw cucumber and carrot relish that I made yesterday and a teaspoon at least of this oregano. I overcooked the soup but let me tell you, eating that soup was an oregano experience! My head nearly ignited with oregano flavor!

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