by Linda Carloni
Herbs serve us in wonderful ways – they can help with our health, make our food taste better, provide food for insects, and provide lovely scents and beautiful flowers. This post focuses on three commonly used and delicious perennial herbs for cooking.
I grow these, and other herbs, because I like fresh herbs in my food. I generally use just a few sprigs at a time, and can’t bear to pay for a whole bunch when I know much of it is likely to go bad before I use it. So, herb plants belong in my yard and pots!
Oreganos
Oregano grows into a woody bush, up to 2 feet high, and 18 inches or more wide. Its aromatic leaves can be used fresh or dried. It is used frequently in Italian and Greek recipes, and a similar plant provides an important flavor in Mexican cuisine.
The oregano that grows wild in mountainous regions of the Mediterranean is Origanum vulgare. It is milder and sweeter than Origanum vulgare hirtum, which many consider the “true” Greek oregano. Sweet marjoram, Origanum majorana, is milder and sweeter than the vulgare species, and is not as cold hardy as they are. The herb called Mexican oregano is Lippia graveolens. Its flavor is punchier than the Mediterranean oreganos.
How to grow
- Planting: Seedlings are better than seeds for starting oregano; seeds of some types are tiny and hard to manage, and the yield is unpredictable.
- Oregano seedlings can be planted any time of year in Alameda. Space plants 18″ apart.
- Oregano needs full sun.
- Average soil is fine. In sandy soil or a container, oregano will benefit from supplemental nitrogen, but otherwise fertilization generally isn’t needed.
- Water only when the soil has dried out. Good drainage is essential to oregano’s success.
For best leaf flavor, don’t allow the plant to flower. Pinch off any flowers as soon as you see them. - Growth will slow down or stop in late fall and winter. Cut the stems off in winter or very early spring. When the warm temperatures return, vigorous growth should resume.
Harvesting
- Harvest frequently through the summer, which will help keep the leaves tender and minimize flowering.
- You can use both the tender leaves (added at the end of cooking) and hardier leaves with whole stems (typically added at the beginning of the cooking process, then removed)
- Try to harvest when the leaves are dry and it’s cool. Heat makes plant oils dissipate into the air.
Thymes
Thyme is also a woody perennial, and is evergreen. Size of the thyme plant varies with the variety, but typical varieties are 6 to 12 inches high and wide. The plant is indigenous to the Mediterranean and neighboring countries, Northern Africa, and parts of Asia.
Thyme is frequently used to season omelets, poultry dishes, stocks, stews, and salad dressings. Unlike oregano, thyme leaves retain their flavor with long-cooking.
There are many varieties of thyme. The most common culinary thymes are English thyme and French thyme, which is slightly sweeter and milder than English. Both are Thymus vulgaris varieties. Other culinary thymes are lemon, lime and orange thyme; plus there are many ornamental thymes grown for their beauty and to attract pollinators.
How to Grow
- Thyme seeds can be challenging to germinate, so starting from seedlings or cuttings is recommended. Place them 12 inches apart.
- Thyme seedlings can be planted any time of year in Alameda.
- Like oregano, thyme needs full sun and well-draining soil. Thyme prefers amended sandy soil. It doesn’t need fertilizing, but a layer of compost in the spring is helpful.
- Thyme does not need much water, so water when the soil is dry, but keep the plant on the dry side to avoid root rot.
- To slow the plant’s tendency to woodiness and keep the plant the size you want, cut back in the spring.
- Thyme plants generally become too woody and die after a few years, although mine has lasted quite a lot longer than that.
Harvesting
- Harvest fresh leaves anytime for cooking. Blossoms are also edible.
- For best flavor in the leaves, especially for drying, harvest before blossoms open.
- Take fresh stems and leave the tough part, which is usually about five inches of growth.
- Regular picking helps slow the plant’s progression toward woodiness.
Preserving Oregano and Thyme
Fresh herbs have a unique flavor, but if you cut back your thyme and oregano plants as suggested, you won’t have those fresh herbs for the winter. But you can preserve those flavors by drying them.
- When harvesting these herbs to dry, cut off stems, not individual leaves.
- Air-drying
- Remove damaged leaves and gather stems into small bundles. Secure with kitchen string or a rubber band. Don’t bunch the herbs tightly to avoid mold and promote air circulation.
- Label the bunches, as many dried leaves resemble one another.
- Placing paper bags loosely over the tops of the herbs keeps dust off the herbs and dry leaves off the floor.
- Hang the bundles (leaf side down to keep the volatile oils in the leaves) in a warm, dry dark place with good air circulation.
- Look at the herbs after a week or two. If the plant seems dry and the leaves are crisp enough to crumble, you can package them up. If not, resume the hanging as before.
- Oven-drying: put the herbs in the oven still attached to their stems on a baking sheet at the lowest possible temperature, 110 degrees or less. Don’t crowd them on the sheet. Keep the oven door a bit ajar so moisture can escape. When the leaves are dry enough to crumble, take them out and allow them to cool completely before packaging. Monitor carefully to prevent over-drying.
- Storage:
- When the herbs are dry enough, take the leaves off the stems, place loosely in airtight jars (tinted if you can) and place in a dark, cool, dry cupboard.
- Look at the leaves in the jars after a few days and again after a week to make sure there is no condensation. If there is, remove the leaves and let them dry more.
- Store your herbs carefully, and they can retain their flavor until you can harvest fresh the next season.
Rosemary
Rosemary is sometimes grown as an ornamental, but also provides delicious edible leaves. There are many varieties, ranging in size from low ground covers to four to six feet tall, with growing habits ranging from creeping to mounding to upright.
Rosemary is frequently used with meat dishes, but it is also delicious with roasted vegetables, in soups and stews, and to infuse oils and vinegars. Rosemary is believed to have originated in the hills along the Mediterranean, Portugal and Northwestern Spain, and is common in Italian and Greek cooking.
When choosing a variety, if height is important to you, look for a label that specifies the eventual height of the plant. No height specification may indicate a plant with unpredictable height. Rosmarinus officinalis (now reclassified as Salvia rosmarinus) is edible, but different varieties have different flavors. For culinary uses, gardeners recommend Majorca Pink, Irene, Hill Hardy, Huntington Carpet, Shady Acres and Tuscan Blue. Go by your own taste preferences.
How to grow
- Planting: Seedlings are better than seeds for starting rosemary; rosemary seeds are difficult to germinate.
- Rosemary seedlings can be planted any time of year in Alameda, but are best planted in spring and early summer.
- Like oregano and thyme, rosemary needs full sun.
- Rosemary prefers a light and well-drained soil, but will grow in almost any soil as long as the soil drains well. Fertilizer is not needed.
- When the weather is hot, water young plants occasionally, when the soil dries out. Once established (after its first summer), rosemary requires very little to no water. Overwatering can lead to root rot. (Note, plants in pots always require some water because they can’t draw up moisture from the surrounding soil)
- Pruning and dead-heading are not required, but rosemary can be a vigorous grower, and you are likely to need to prune it to keep it the size you want. When a rosemary drapes over a rock wall and there are multiple layers of branches, the underside branches will tend to die, and need to be trimmed so they don’t become unsightly,
Harvesting
- Both the leaves and the flowers are edible.
- Harvest frequently to keep soft new growth coming. When you harvest, cut back below the blooming area.
Herbs and Pollinators
Bees and some butterflies love the blossoms of oregano, thyme and rosemary, so when you’re cutting back your plants, consider leaving a few blooms for them.
Wishing you happy, well-seasoned home cooking! If you’d like to read more articles on herbs, let us know. Email info@alamedabackyardgrowers.com.