Oregano! Or,… Is it?

I may as well be 6-years-old again… whenever I play with one of these things!

I love them.  They bring hope.  New beginnings.  Fresh starts.

 

Can you see the hope?

I haven’t planted much.  I’m in no true position for growing my vegetable garden as I wish.  However… I’m turning a negative into a positive by having some creative fun.

My sewing machine will be taking on a different task today.  Growing bags.  Handmade from a delivery of heavy duty landscape fabric.

In the meantime… I’m thinking female creatures with their eggs hatching are having a bit of an easier challenge.

See how they all come?  Each has their own unique appearance and growth.  Each will be set into their own cup as they reach the top of the little dome.  Peat Pellets are moved around.  Sprouts are moved closer to the light.

These little babies don’t pop up equally in the same fashion.  When they reach the top of the cover… it’s time to move them to a more proper set up.

 

This is not a proper set up.  I know.  LOL!  This would be a temporary set up.

Okay.  Even more temporary.  As in… before this evening.  Have to get them into something.  Because their tiny little roots are already coming out the side of the peat pellet.

 

Now this one… I like him!  Short like me!  Visible strength right out of the seed!  I only wish I could remember what it is.  Ha!

Hey… I said this was creative fun.  Right?

Feeling grateful for being able to improvise in ‘Green Acres fashion’ as well.  LMAO!

“Green Acres is the place for me…”  Sing it!!  LOL

Warning Parents… it’s only me and the dog in this house.  Don’t try this around kids!!

There’s always a Catch-22 here in my area during Spring Season.  You have to have some type of temporary backup plan for housing any locally purchased herbs and summer crop plants.

You can’t plant before mid to late April… unless you wish to fight with going back and forth… covering and uncovering for a couple weeks.  Mother Nature loves giving us a hard time with the surprise fluctuation in temperatures at this time.

But if you wait to buy after all the threat of freeze warnings and such… the pickings are few for all the varieties and healthy plants in the shops.

Big Picture thinking knows all this craziness will calm by mid-March.  I’m patient.  I can put up with this for a while.  And I only have a safe amount to handle.

I took advantage of the situation to keep a couple of my favorites under my kitchen light that stays on all day long.  They’ve already shown to be really pleased!

Now here’s an interesting situation I’ve come across in all my fun.  Maybe somebody can help me figure out what’s going on below?

I’d purchased two ‘Italian Oregano’ plants by accident.  One at each of the two stores where I made purchases.  Two different Growers.

So I thought.  Two entirely different plants.  Obviously!

Being in a hurry and focusing on all the precautions in place for social distancing because of the Covid-19 pandemic… I didn’t pay close enough attention at Lowe’s.

Easy to do… considering the foot traffic in their garden center and the long lines created by everyone keeping a distance from one another.

I know for a fact… this is Italian Oregano.  See the round leaves beginning with the very first leaves that appear at the base of the plant.  And… what I call… tiny fur… on the stems and leaves of the entire plant.

Later there will be the cutest blue flowers on this herb!

It is so important to research the plants you grow.  You want to know how many varieties are in each species.  And by all means… pay close attention to their appearance.  That can determine their variety.  And different varieties in the same species can grow entirely different from one another.

The ultimate check… the smell test.  Pinch off a leaf from the plant.  Crush it between your fingers.  Smell.

Here’s this other Italian Oregano plant I purchased.  Or… is it really Oregano?

I dunno!!  Look at this!  Same stem development.  Same leaf development.

 

Now look at this!  That’s not Oregano!  It’s Sweet Marjoram!!  The leaf crushing sealed the deal!

The plant was tagged incorrectly.  That tells me there were trays of this incorrectly tagged plant that went onto the trucks.

Who knows how many trays!  Who knows how many trucks!  Who knows how many places these plants were spread out all around the country!

Who knows how many customers went home thinking they had Italian Oregano… when they actually have Sweet Marjoram!

All I can say is… that sauce is going to taste very different!

Lucky for me… Sweet Marjoram is one of my prized favorites!  I love what it does for my Red Potatoes!  And I can never grow too much!

Accidents will always happen in gardening.  Know this.  But it is also part of the learning!  So while you’re playing around in the meantime… get on the Internet and learn about all the food you can grow for yourself!

Just watching a plant grow from a seed becomes something so wondrous.  So satisfying.  Feeds the curiosity and sense of accomplishment.  As much as it feeds the belly!

And that excitement starts filling your heart when you see things like this!  Cherry Tomatoes on their way!