Herb Gardening with Cuban Oregano

Cuban oregano is an easy-to-grow herb that goes by many names and has an especially distinctive flavor

While shopping at the Kingston , NY , farmers commercialise in former June , I found a new - to - meherbthat I had to bring abode . I had never seen Cubanoreganoand had to find out more about it .

discover more : Learn the BASIC of Growing Outstanding Oregano and Marjoram

The folks at theRexcroft Farm standtold me this easy - to - grow herb is popular in Caribbean cookery and makes a decent substitute in formula that call for novel Greek oregano . One flora with smaller foliage was labeled Cuban oregano and the larger - leaved plant was labeled “ full - leaf thyme . ”

After doing some inquiry , includingThe Culinary Herbal , I consider both arePlectranthus amboinicus , just with leaves of unlike shapes . One type is a spreading plant with gravid foggy leaves ; the other feature small compact leaves on an vertical plant .

Cuban oregano run low by other names , too . It ’s been called Puerto Rican oregano , Indian borage , Mexican mint and Spanish thyme . While it ’s gathered a few nationality along the air , it ’s believed this various herb is a perennial industrial plant aboriginal to southern and easterly Africa .

The plant life are highly ornamental with thick , succulent leaves that are also extremely flavored . The fragrance seems to be a combination of oregano , thyme and sage . Some sources say the parting can be used as a raw worm repellant because of their scent . Just squish a few and rub them on exposed skin .

But the best use of fresh Cuban oregano is in Caribbean recipes . Because the leaves are well used fresh , they can be put in a blender with other ingredients for a tangy marinade or chopped for a salsa , sautéed with garlic to season a good deal of black-market beans or dip in a short slugger and fried .

I ’m growing my plants in a container , but the broad - leaved Cuban winter sweet would be a beautiful increase to the herb garden , vegetable garden or flush bed . plant grow in slightly damp soil and can take Sunday and specter . Because they ’re a warm - clime perennial , they ’ll necessitate to overwinter indoors .

That should be easy to do . At the end of the season , I ’ll take a few stem tip cutting , poke them in a small container of damp soil , locate them in a sunny windowpane and apply them sweet for cooking all wintertime . Then next season , I ’ll replant them outside .

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