Common Garden Sage (Salvia officinalis)
If the seed catalogs are starting to arrive at your house and (like me) you’re already thinking ahead to this year’s garden, consider adding different sage varieties to your herb choices this year. Sage is a hardy perennial and each plant will live and produce for several years. This is an easy herb to start from seed… the seeds germinate quickly and will thrive in pots in the house until it is time to transplant them outdoors. Even though the seedlings look tiny, they should be transplanted at least twenty inches away from each other because that tiny seedling will become a large bushy plant. Sage started from seeds takes about two years to reach its mature size. If you want quicker results than seeds can offer, sage can also be propagated by dividing mature plants or by taking cuttings from the outer new growth of mature plants in the fall… or by layering. Sage plants must be pruned severely each spring. It looks drastic, but don’t be afraid to cut the plant back, because this pruning will stimulate growth and new leaves will appear very soon. The usual recommendation is to replace sage plants every three years, but with pruning each year and good growing conditions, they will keep thriving and producing much longer than that. My current batch of common sage plants is over five years old, and they are still going strong.
Sage contains volatile oils and tannins as well as camphor, terpene, and salvene. The taste of sage is unique and is described by herbalists as pleasantly bitter, lemony, and camphorlike. Sage can be purchased as whole dried leaves or as rubbed (powdered) sage, but the taste of home grown sage is always so much superior.
Sage leaves can be used fresh, or dried for later use. Dried sage has a much different, stronger and more pungent flavor than fresh sage, which can be used in salads and added to breads. Sage leaves dry easily… you can pick them off individually, but I do a light pruning of the mature plants throughout the summer and simply put the cuttings (stems and all) in small paper bags to dry. To retain the most flavor and aroma, I crush the leaves just before I use them.
In Europe sage has long been used in baking and cooking, but in America most early uses were medicinal. Native Americans mixed sage with bear grease and used it as a salve for sores. They also used sage as a toothbrush and as a cure for bleeding gums. In the 1800’s, people believed that sage could cure warts, measles, and epilepsy. They drank sage tea to help them sleep and to get rid of intestinal worms. Sailors used sage to ward off seasickness. Sage has natural drying properties and was used to treat sore throats and mouth irritations and as an antiseptic and astringent. Recent research has shown that sage might be helpful in lowering the blood sugar level in diabetics. Commercially, sage is used in cosmetics, aftershaves, perfumes, and insect repellents. When sage is used in dying wool, it can produce colors ranging from yellow to purple to gray green. Sage also has natural antibacterial properties and has been used as a natural preservative for meats, fish, and poultry. Just recently a distilled sage extract was developed to extend the shelf life of certain foods.
I have had fun trying companion plantings in my garden, and I grow sage near carrots, tomatoes, cabbage, and strawberries because sage is believed to stimulate their growth. Sage and onions, however, are thought to have an adverse effect on each other so I try to keep them growing a good distance apart.
One of the things I like best about sage is the variety of leaf colors. Golden sage has green and gold variegated leaves and is an excellent border plant because it grows only about 18 inches all. Purple sage is especially beautiful because of its deep purple leaves. In a very cold climate like ours pineapple sage plants usually will not survive the winter temperatures, but it is still a sage I like to grow because its leaves give off such a delightful aroma of pineapple. Pineapple sage grows to almost three feet tall (with red flowers) so it is too large for a container inside, but I treat it as an annual and start new plants each year. Most sages flower in June with tiny tubular blooms of pink, purple, white, or blue, depending on the variety.
Written by Shirley | Filed Under Growing, Storing & Using Herbs
Please leave a comment!