Oregano flakes in the making...

"One of the most delightful things a garden is the anticipation it provides..."

So happy to have waited in anticipation for about a month and a half and being able to harvest my oregano this morning. I am even more happy to be making my own Oregano flakes and using them with pride in my cooking...
I trim my oregano plant regularly. Almost once in two months. I dry the stems in the shade and crush the leaves and stems too. A little more crushing required for the stems though. I store the flakes in a small glass bottle. The first few times, when I used to harvest just a few sprigs, I got about one table spoon (One table spoon may sound silly, but I'm sure many of you would identify with my excitement over even such small quantities...!) and slowly the quantity increased as my plants grew.

Folks, I brought home my oregano from a local nursery as two tiny seedlings nestled it in a small take-away container two and a half years back. After about a fortnight, I transplanted my oregano, which were now growing big for the take-away, in a portion of an old discarded PVC pipe and an 8" plastic pot... I did it with great trepidation, as I didn't want to lose them... Herb seedlings are very hard to come by in Dharwad. Only one local nursery grows them/gets them from B'looru, and that too very few, as there aren't many takers...

But to my good fortune, my oregano seemed to like their new abode and began to sprout new shoots all over even before I could complete my short motivating speech...! The potting mix for my oregano is just the same as it is for all my greens. An equal mixture of soil and compost with a little neem cake powder added to arrest fungal attacks. After that, I have been adding a bit of compost every once in six months. I water them judiciously without letting the containers ever get water logged, or even completely dried out for long. I trim them regularly to collect leaves, for drying and for using fresh. And all the times they sprin g back with the same enthusiasm. Very soon, both my oregano plants were excitedly spilling all over the place, and I was happily grinning from ear to ear. My oregano, despite growing in semi shade have not disappointed me over the years. But unfortunately, my lovely oregano growing in the PVC pipe fell victim to a monkey attack, while still in the old balcony patch. I do miss it, but my other oregano in the pot has been quite a brilliant substitute and served me well. Since we shifted to the new place, this is the third time I have trimmed it. And as every gardener wishes to, I too am waiting eagerly to add more oregano plants to my patch.

Well folks, the aroma of my freshly crushed oregano flakes is simply unbeatable ! I haven't smelled such a lovely aroma in any store bought one... The beautiful aroma lingers for long on my hands and I very proudly go about getting all and sundry to smell my hands...