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Sage in the Garden

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Sage in bloom. Photo: Marie Viljoen

Growing sage has many rewards.

There are more than 900 species of salvia worldwide, but there is one we all know best, common sage, Salvia officianalis.

The name Salvia is derived from salvare, to heal, and salvus, meaning whole, or uninjured, and speaks to the reputation held by common sage as a household cure-all, dating back to the time of Pliny the Elder. This unassuming sage is ubiquitous and it is easy to forget that, like so many herbs, its uses are threefold: culinary, medicinal and purely aesthetic.

In my kitchen I use sage in four ways.
-- For slow-cooking, so that its leaves practically melt into braises and stews.
-- Raw, cut into ribbons at the last minute over risotto or pasta with a simple sauce of parmesan and butter.
-- Dried or fresh and incorporated into stuffings.
-- Frizzled or flash-fried whole till crisp as a topping for anything from baked potatoes to a fancy breakfast of pancetta and poached eggs.

Sage is being tested for numerous medical applications. When I have a sore throat, I put its antiseptic properties to use as a gargle. A handful of leaves, boiling water, a five minute steep and it is ready. The leaves are considered most potent before bloom.

Common sage with basil and calamintha. Photo: Marie Viljoen


Because common sage has attractive leaves and flowers it deserves a place alongside our perennials as much as with our kitchen herbs. The flowers of sage are variable and if grown from seed might come out blue, white or pink, regardless of the color of the parent plant's blooms. They last for weeks on the plant and almost as long cut, indoors.

Common sage is native to the Mediterranean and this gives us a clue as to its cultivation requirements: excellent drainage, and full sun. It is hardy to USDA Zone 7, and I have had it overwinter in Zone 6b. Technically a woody shrub, sage behaves, and looks, more like a perennial. After three or four years it is best to divide it, or start with a new plant, as it is fairly short-lived.

"Purpurascens" with chives and catnip. Photo: Marie Viljoen


I can't imagine my rooftop herb garden without sage,and keep three pots of it: One to eat, one to look at, and one just in case.

Running out of sage is not an option.

 

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