Description
Common Sage, or Garden sage, grows in the wild in the
Mediterranean region. There are over 750 species grown all
over the world. Like many herbs, it is also considered a
flower. It grows as a shrub.
Culture
Sage are grown from seed. They can be directly seeded into
your garden, or started indoors for transplanting later.
Start them indoors six weeks before the last frost. If
planting outdoors, sow them after the soil has begun to warm
in the spring. Sow seeds early in the season and cover
lightly with soil. Space seedlings or thin plants to 12"
apart. Rough oval shaped blue/green leaves. Sage has spikes
of purple flowers.
Harvesting
Pick the leaves before or at blooming. Cut back the stems
after blooming.
Use
The leaves and stems are used in
cooking for flavoring sausages, pork, sauces, cheese,
dressings and stuffing. Gramma may use sage in Thanksgiving
turkey stuffing.
The sage herb has a wonderful aroma, the "fruit sage",
"pineapple sage" and sage elegans among others give the most
beautiful smell, and is sometimes used with sachets, to
complement the scented combinations. It can also be used for
tea, combined with black tea or by itself, the flowers are
collected for this purpose. |
