Fellow Aussie here! Welcome to the forum! Oregano likes heat, heat and full sun, lots of. It will seldom have a good flavour/aroma if in shade or a cool climate. It's a herb that likes a rich, fertile soil - unlike most of its Mediterranean compatriots. They will tolerate poor soil, but not do so well. Check the pH - it should be around 7-8. I suggest taking a few cutting (best to wait until spring or summer) and start again.

I don't see dried peppers (akin to pepper flakes) in oil as much of an issue. The only qualifier is that we are assuming peppers or other additions are crisp-dried. With home-dried product, there's always the question of "how dried is dried?" if you know what I mean. Any residual moisture can be an issue. The method for improving safety of infused oils by heating was developed and supported by Ellie Topp and Margaret Howard in their original book, Put a Lid on It. This excerpt from the Food Safety Network summarizes the history. In April 1997, Macmillan Canada published Put a Lid on It! by authors Ellie Topp and Margaret Howard. The book features currently accepted techniques and recipes for small-batch preserving. One chapter is devoted to flavoured oils and vinegars. The method for making the oils, developed in consultation with the Bureau of Microbial Hazards of Health Canada, is simple but must be followed carefully so that the result is a safe product. In January 1996 an article appeared in Gourmet magazine with a procedure for making these oils that was attributed to FDA. When contacted, FDA could find no record of having given approval to such a method. Ellie Topp then approached Health Canada who agreed to consult on the development of a method that would be safe and pose no risk of botulism developing in the oil. This method is used in Put a Lid on It! Oil infused with a garlic clove or fresh herb provides a potential medium for growth of the bacteria responsible for botulism food poisoning. The fresh herb supplies a source of moisture that can support the growth of C. botulinum if it is present in the anaerobic environment of the oil. The method developed by Topp and Howard involves first heating the oil and flavouring agent in a 300F (150C)oven for 1 hour. This process drives off the moisture thereby eliminating the potential for growth as well as promoting the infusion of the flavour into the oil. The oil is then cooled, strained and placed in a clean bottle. It must be stored in a refrigerator at all times and used within a month. If proper care is taken, there is no health risk to making homemade flavoured oils. . . . Speaking for myself, of course you can refer to these posts. Easier yet, just post a link to this discussion. GardenWeb members freely cross-post links to other forums. The link below is to one document by Ellie Topp which provides procedures and recipes for infused oils. Scroll down the page and you'll see two PDF's which can be saved to your computer. Carol Here is a link that might be useful: Flavoured Oils

But, to your taste, have you ever eaten a certain variety that obviously "tasted" acidic or tart to you? This past year I didn't really have many with a truly acidic taste. At least not overpowering. ***** Sure, I've grown many that I considered had an assertive ( I prefer that adjective to acidic or tart) type taste, and in her Dec 5th post above Suze listed many of them and I agree with most of what she posted. Notice that Rutgers is also on that list, and I could say the same about many of the older commercial varieties such as Valiant and New Yorker and Wisconsin 55 and the like. I've grown Better Boy and Big Boy quite a bit and I don't find themn to be assertive at all. Both have one parent in common, a large pink heirloom called Teddy Jones, and no, that variety is not available anywhere b'c obviously it's still used in the construction of hybrid seed for both of those varieties. There will seldom be agreement on taste of varieties b'c taste is both personal and subjective and has a human genetic association as well and taste can vary depending on the summer it was grown as to weather as well as soil used, amendments used, and other variables. Certain varieties seem to have some agreement such as the ones we're talking about here now, per Suze's list, as well as my mentioning Noir Des Cosebeauf and Sandpoint. Carolyn

I would not eat this flavor on a bet! Though I do like Key Lime pie. Clare You Are a Lime Flavored Popsicle You are an outrageous person. For you, summer is all about going crazy - even if it means getting in trouble. You are daring and adventurous. You have a real taste for the edgier things in life. A true wild child, there's no hope of you ever slowing down. You've got too much sass and spunk to ever behave. What Flavor Popsicle Are You?