Savory, an herb for even tastier grilling and cooking

A spice that’s a herb with medicinal value, common savory (Satujera hortensis) is a herbaceous annual plant that’s found in the wild in Southern Europe. It produces pubescent stems and narrow, peppery leaves that taste somewhat like thyme. Savory also bears melliferous flowers, white to pink in color. They’re edible and often used in infusions.

Satureja boasts many therapeutic benefits: its leaves and flowers are great stimulants, antispasmodic, antiseptic, fortifying agents and help digestion.

Easy to grow in a pot, and in the ground, too, common savory only requires very little care once it’s survived for a year in place.

Common savory at a glance

Botanical name	Satureja hortensis L.
Common name	Common Savory
Family	Lamiaceae
Type	spice
Height	8 to 16 inches (20 to 40 cm)
Planting distance	12 inches (30 cm)
Exposure	full sun
Soil	rich, light, dry and well-draining
Planting	late spring
Harvest	late spring to mid-autumn

Sowing common savory

Start sowing common savory from the month of early spring onwards, in a warm place, or from mid-spring onwards directly in the ground (May if you’re in a place with harsher winters).

Sowing savory in pots:

Sow savory directly in a pot that’s 1½ to nearly 2 feet across (40 to 50 cm), filled with clean, sieved and well-draining soil mix.

Place the pot in a luminous, warm place (at least 65°F / 18°C). Water the seeds with a fine mist, and cover the surface of the pot with broken-down bark mulch.

Sowing the seeds directly in the growing bed

Note that the soil temperature must reach 65°F or 18°C for your savory seeds to germinate.

With a small hoe, dig out shallow furrows in the ground, spacing them by 16 inches apart (40 cm).

Press the soil down at the bottom of the furrow with the back of your rake, and sow the common savory seeds along the whole line.

Cover the seeds with a thin layer of soil and drizzle water over it.

Planting common savory

Transplant common savory seedlings to the ground in late spring, when the last frosts are past.

Find for it a sunny, hot spot, and space plants at least 12 inches (30 cm) apart to all sides.

Add coarse sand or gravel to the soil if it doesn’t drain well enough, and plant at the top of a ridge. Water upon planting, and then only in case of heat waves.

• Harden off pot-raised savory seedlings outdoors for about a week before they go into the bed.
• Plant on a dull day or in the evening to limit wilting.
• Slot a few savory plants along the rows of green and broad beans; its German name, Bohnenkraut, or bean herb, comes from the way the leaves season bean dishes in the kitchen.

Three ways to start common savory

Savory can be started under cover, sown straight into the bed, or set out as young plants once the weather warms. The table below sums up when each method applies and what it demands.

Whichever route you take, warmth and sharp drainage decide the outcome.

Growing and care

Common savory isn’t frost hardy, unlike perennial savory (Satureja montana). You’ll have to sow it anew every spring if you grow it in the ground.

This herb loves sunny, warm places and soil that’s rich, dry and drains well – even limestone. Compact, clayish soils should be avoided, though.

It’s relatively easy to cultivate common savory in a garden box or pot: this makes it even easier to move it to hotter places in the sun on a balcony, deck or terrace.

Whether it’s planted directly in the ground or in containers, this condiment plant doesn’t require any further care, apart from regular watering if you want to have a continuous supply of fresh, soft leaves.

Diseases and pests

Common Savory is a plant that resists diseases and pests. Of particular interest in the vegetable patch is the fact that it repels most common pests insects, aphids in particular.

Harvest and keeping

Savory leaves should be harvested as you intend to use them, not in advance, between late spring and mid-autumn (depending on when it was sown). The leaves are most fragrant when harvested in the morning, and in any case before the blooming starts.

Flavors are much more intense when you eat savory that has just been picked. In order to keep your harvest for longer spans of time (over 8 months), dry the leaves on trays and store them in airtight jars. It’s also an option to freeze savory leaves in an ice tray. Chop the leaves into thin slivers, pack them in the tray, and cover in olive oil; place the tray in the freezer.

Cooking with savory

Savory leaves will enhance the taste of salads and cooked vegetables, and will work wonders to spice up grilled meats, marinades, and different types of gravy.

Something many people don’t know is that savory leaves also pair well with desserts, to add a nice touch to applesauce or sprinkled as slivers on a crumble pie.

Note that you shouldn’t add too much savory to your recipes, because the taste is quite strong and it might overtake that of other ingredients.

• Savory is one of the classic ingredients of herbes de Provence, alongside thyme, rosemary and oregano.
• Dried savory has a more concentrated flavor than fresh, so a common cooking guideline is to substitute about one teaspoon of dried savory for every tablespoon of fresh.
• Stir fresh basil in at the end of cooking, since its aroma depends on volatile compounds such as linalool and eugenol, which evaporate or degrade under prolonged heat.

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