How I use herbs - Oregano (or Marjoram?)

I was surprised to find that oregano was not listed in my herb books, but then I remembered that it might be under Marjoram and I found the right sections. I have never quite understood the oregano/majoram connection, fortunately it is explained in this blog post, and now I know that I do have oregano (Origanum vulgare) in my herb garden, which is a variety of majoram. My middle name is Marjorie, so I should know this stuff! I understand now that marjoram varieties are all a bit different, so this post is only about growing and using oregano.

How to grow Oregano

I can't even remember where my oregano plant first came from. It seems to be very robust and may have survived a few garden moves and periods of neglect. I keep it in a pot as it does tend to spread. I trim it back regularly as the stalks can get woody if the stems get too long. Its easily propagated by root division. It dies back after a heavy frost, but it always grows back. It does grow better in damp but well-drained soil (don't let it dry out or get too wet), however it will grow back when conditions are favourable. This is the first time I've ever seen it flower, and I didn't actually notice until I had trimmed it back, flowers and all! As its a perennial, it doesn't matter that it flowers occasionally, in fact its good for the bees. Basically this oregano plant I have is the ideal low-maintenance robust herb for my style of gardening!

How to use Oregano

I find that oregano is best dried as its much easier to crumble dried leaves than to chop fresh leaves. I like it on mushrooms (with butter), roast potatoes, in meatballs, added to casseroles and gravies. I put it in my herbal teas as well.

Medicinally, oregano (and marjoram) is known to aid digestion, antiseptic properties (particularly for inflammations of the mouth and respiratory conditions), relief from headaches. It can be used as an infusion, mouthwash or tincture.

The essential oil is warming and I include it in my muscle salve (which is based on this recipe, in which I substituted oregano for vetiver, as I couldn't get vetiver). Oregano essential oil is also useful as an antiseptic due to its high phenol content (thymol). (Note that marjoram essential oil has a different chemical composition).

Do you grow oregano (or any marjoram varieties)? How do you use oregano?

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The new Eight Acres website is live!

Very soon this blogspot address will automatically redirect to the new Eight Acres site, but in the meantime, you can check it out here . You will find all my soaps, ebooks and beeswax/honey products there, as well as the blog (needs a tidy up, but its all there!). I will be gradually updating all my social media links and updating and sharing blog posts over the next few months. I'm very excited to share this new website with you!

Chicken tractor guest post

Sign up for my weekly email updates here , you will find out more about chickens, soap and our farmlife, straight to your inbox, never miss a post! New soap website and shop opening soon.... Tanya from Lovely Greens invited me to write a guest post on chicken tractors for her blog. I can't believe how many page views I get for chicken tractors, they seem to be a real area of interest and I hope that the information on my blog has helped people. I find that when I use something everyday, I forget the details that other people may not be aware of, so in this post for Tanya, I tried to just write everything I could think of that I haven't covered in previous posts. I tried to explain everything we do and why, so that people in other locations and situations can figure out how best to use chicken tractors with their own chickens. The dogs like to hang out behind the chicken tractors and eat chicken poo. Dogs are gross! If you want to read more about chicken tractor

How to make soap with beer (and tallow)

I may have mentioned this before.... soap making is addictive! Once you start, you just want to keep making more soap. And not the same soap, you want to try all sorts of different soaps. I made the mistake of joining a facebook group called Saponification Nation and now my facebook newsfeed is full of glorious soaps, in all colours and shapes, which makes it even harder to resist the urge to experiment. One soap that kept popping up a few weeks ago was soap made with beer. I generally prefer not to use ingredients just for the sake of it, I like to know that they are adding something to the properties of the finished soap. As you know, I don't like to use artificial ingredients either (colours or fragrances). When I read about beer in soap I found out that beer adds sugar to the mixture, which increases lather. I use tallow in my soap, which has limited lather, so anything that adds lather could improve the soap. It also contributes a tan or brown colour to

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