On 8/12/06 05:47, in article
, "Farm1"
please@askifyouwannaknow wrote:
snip

One elderly Italian lady has such a garden near where my daughter
lives. Her English is not very good, but I have conversations with
her occasionally. In one of these conversations, I was trying to ask
her about why she grew so much Oregano (2 rows that stretched for
about 30 ft right behind her front fence). She said that she waited
till they had flowered and then did something culinary with the seed?
or the flower heads?, but I couldn't figure out what it was she said
that she did. I've been meaning to get my chef neighbour who may
know, or if she doesn't, to ask her Nonna what it could be. Do you
have any idea?

I don't know about using the seeds in cooking but perhaps she keeps them to
re-sow each year for her new crop. I'll ask over on the food group because
there is an American there who lives in Italy and runs cookery classes. I'm
sure she'll know.
The Italians and their 'orto' are fantastic. If you read Under the Tuscan
Sun by Frances Mayes, she talks about Italian food in it quite regularly and
one of the features is of older Italian women - the Nonnas - gathering wild
herbs, wild asparagus, wild sorrel, wild fennel and goodness knows what
else. They waste nothing.

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/