My journey growing sage has definitely been very up and down. But over the last few years I have found what has worked for me and I want to share what I have learnt.
Table of Contents
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Types of sage
Sage is part of the salvia family, which is a large plant family that has over 900 varieties.
This post is focusing on the common culinary sage, salvia officinalis. This will be the sage you will most familiar with when looking to grow sage as a herb used in your cooking. You will also find a variety of sages within a similar group that includes, white, purple, and variegated like the one pictured below. It is really nice if are wanting you want to add more colour interest to a herb garden.
These varieties also require the same growing conditions and are pretty much the same to start from seed. Which is really nice, its makes life a lot easier.
Growing conditions
This has been a learning curve for me. I live in BC Canada just outside of Vancouver. If you know growing zones we are classed as 8a/b. So in regards to temperatures we should be fine but it gets wet here and the winters can get cold along with wet, sage really does not like that combo.
Sage will not grow if it is standing water.
If you want to grow your sage plants in the ground then you will need to make sure it has amazing drainage and gets full sun. It will not like being in clay soil, so, if you have clay your soil will need to be adjusted with a gritty soil mix. And even then I would keep a close eye on it.
With that all said I would if you live in a climate like mine stick to growing sage in a pot. We have ours now in a large terracotta pot and it is finally happy. I think the is because we can move it undercover when it gets cold and wet, it also has good drainage. The plant is in a gritty soil mix and by using a large terracotta pot that is porous meaning it wont hold the water.
Place your pot in a sunny location it needs lots of sun just like many of the other Mediterranean herbs.
Planting sage seeds
Sage seeds are so easy to start and grow. Unlike thyme parsley and many other herbs the seeds are an easy size to handle, this is great because you can control how many you sow and where.
If you are new to starting your plants from seed then sage will be a great one to start with.
The seeds germinate very easily and should sprout in under 2 weeks, just place them in a warm bright spot and make sure they stay moist, you never want your seed soil to dry out.
You can start them in seed trays with seed soil. and once they are around an inch tall with at least one set of true leaves, these are the second set of leaves that grow, move them into larger pots with potting soil.
I like to use 2.5 to 3 inch pots like the one shown below they can hold 4 separate plants in each corner.
After around 2 to 3 months you can move each plant to its final location.
The whole plant should probably be relaced every 3 years and they tend to become leggy and woody.
Companion herb plants
If you want to add sage to a herb garden then some great companion herbs to grow with it would include rosemary, thyme, oregano, and basil. Click on each name to learn more about each of these herbs.
Sage can get quite large and if you want to get good harvests then try not to over crowd it. I have learnt that the best thing you can do with any plant is to give it space. So, if you only have a small area try and limit how many plants you put together. Your plants will thank you for the space.
Pruning and drying
How to prune sage
Sage can get a bit leggy looking and because the branches aren’t very strong they will droop and bow with the weight.
So when should you prune sage? Give it a hard cut back in March you can cut it down by around half. You may find this hard to do because you could see new growth and we might fear it wont grow back. But don’t worry it will it will come back lovely and bushy with great leaves ready for harvesting.
Just before it flowers so when you see buds starting to appear harvest the nice big healthy leaves. Now we do something we don’t normally want to do with herbs we let it flower and they are beautiful.
Once it has done flowing give it another light trim and leave it to grow ready for another year.
Drying sage
With all those beautiful leaves you have harvested lay them onto a drying rack place them in a dry area out of the way. Sage can take quite a long time to dry so just be patient and let it dry. If there is any moisture left in the leaves when you come to store it you run the risk of mold growing.
I once dried sage by tying it up in a bundle and hanging it, like I do with many of my other herbs. It was the worst thing I could have done, it was so hard to then break off each leaf to crush, I ended up with parts of the stems mixed in and they do not break down they are like sharp shards in the mix. So even though it may take up more space and feels like more work it is well worth is.
These hanging racks are a great idea and collapse down when your not using them click here for more info
How to use sage
Sage has so many uses I can’t even begin to scratch the surface. It has amazing medicinal properties and has been use by many cultures for centuries.
Because of its anti microbial properties did you know that if you chew on sage leaves they will clean your mouth. So if you are in pinch or need a freshen up then sage leaves are a great solution.
Sage has a very strong flavour so use it sparingly and add as you need it. You do not want it to over whelm your food.
For culinary uses sage is amazing with most pork and turkey dishes.
Try making sausages with a sage mash potato.
Sage in turkey stuffing is a classic. I also like to stuff sage leaves and butter under the skin of a whole turkey, doing it this way the flavours penetrates right down into the meat.
Another of my favourite recipe of mine is butternut soup with sage and apple. I will be sharing this recipe on the blog soon.
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