Harvested my sage today...

[AllenOK]

I planted several plants this year, then one of my neighbors gave me a HUGE plant she had in a pot. It was looking kind of sick. I figured it just needed to be moved into either a bigger pot, or planted in the ground, which I promptly did. It took off after a couple of weeks.

I must have picked over a pound of leaves today. I took it all into work, spread them out onto six full-size commercial sheet pans, and dried them in our hot-box. Then, I ran them through a commercial Robocoup to process them. I ended up with 172 g (a little over 6 oz) of Sage. This ought to last me a full year.

I did a little checking at Wal-Mart tonight. They have sage in three different bottles, two by McCormick, and one other brand. The two McCormick are chopped Sage Leaves, and Rubbed Dalmation Sage. The leaves run $3.97/12 g, or 33¢/gram. The Rubbed Sage runs $4.12/17 g, or 24¢/gram. The other stuff, the really cheap stuff (not sure on the brand), is ground really fine, and runs 50¢/35 g (1 1/4 oz), or 1.4¢/gram. so, depending on which one I would buy (if I was buying), I saved myself $56.76 for Sage Leaves, $41.28 for Rubbed Sage, or $2.41 for the cheap junk.

Now, the Sage I processed is somewhere between Rubbed Sage and the powdered cheap junk. Either way you look at it, though, I'm rather pleased to have saved myself a sizable chunk of change for a large quantity of home-grown Sage.

 

[jennyema]

So Cool!!

I have the similar good fortune with my basil, parsley and rosemary. I froze the parsley and dried the other. But I don't have nearly as much as you do.

 

[Andy M.]

Regardless of the money saved, yo have the freshest possible dry sage. Who knows how old the stuff in the store is?

I dry rosemary and thyme from our garden.

 

[shannon in KS]

oooooooohhhhhhhhh, I can smell it- sounds so good! Love the smell of sage, and rosemary, ok, and almost all fresh herbs. Beautiful! I do not cook with either much, but do admit to growing rosemary just so I can hold it and smell the wonderful aroma. I make infused oil with it, very good for your skin! Good for those winter colds too. Bah, that fake vapo-rub junk! Back to cooking though, I also had a LOT of parsley this year, and have enough frozen to last the winter!

 

[AllenOK]

I processed my basil in two batches, making a batch of pesto about a month ago, which I froze into pesto cubes, yielding 20 cubes. PeppA has tried a little pesto with leftover spaghetti, and didn't like it. I will admit that it needs more salt, garlic, and maybe a little sugar. She can't have pine nuts, so I left those out. I also pureed the last of the basil about two weeks ago, just the basil and olive oil. I also froze that, but didn't get as much, just about 10 cubes.

I also planted Thyme, Tarragon, Chives, Rosemary, and Lavender. Only the Thyme, Chives, and what I believe is Tarragon, came up. I have two tiny patches of thyme, of which I've harvested most of already and used fresh. I'll have to wait until next year. I never really used the Chives, and PeppA doesn't seem to like them, so I'll probably till them under. The Tarragon (if that's what it is) doesn't seem to have any discerable smell or taste. None of the Rosemary or Lavender came up. I didn't know if I would successfully grow Rosemary this far north or not. I know I can grow Lavender, as we have it at my job, however, none of mine ever sprouted. Maybe next year.

I was a little dissappointed with the Thyme, as I was thinking that's what we used at work. Apparently, we have Lemon Thyme at work, and I planted the regular kind. I wanted it for two reasons, to use for cooking, and as a ground cover. I'm thinking I'll reorganize my garden next year.

I'm definitely going to keep the sage going, as I use A LOT of sage during the winter. To me, Sage is essential when you're cooking chicken. I'm thinking the 6 oz of Sage that I have should last me until harvest time next year.

 

[jennyema]

i think you could grow rosemary on the moon!

 

[Andy M.]

Ours never does great and we never can get it to come back the next year even though it's a perennial.

I think I'll buy a robust Christmas tree-shaped rosemary bush around the holidays and plant it in the spring.

 

[jennyema]

Mine is crazy and usually lives thru the first frost or so .... sometimes thru the winter.

I frantically harvested my garden last friday before it snowed. I took the rosemary in because it "was there."

 

[mudbug]

Congratulations on the sage harvest, Allen. Sounds like you are set. I keep saying I'm gonna grow herbs on the deck every spring, but so far have not done so.

I did plant two teeny rosemary plants a couple of years ago by the front door that have grown into monsters and have survived winter just fine. Try yours again,maybe in a location more protected from wind (as a Mediterranean plant, it needs the sun) and see what happens.

 

[AllenOK]

Thanks for the advice, mudbug. My garden is situated in a spot that is protected from the wind, and has a good southern exposure to the sun. I started all my herbs from seeds. Some of them just never sprouted. I think next year, I'll go to a good nursery and get a live plant.

 

[buckytom]

i think you could grow rosemary on the moon!

scrrrrrch, scrrrrrch, jenny, this is houston. come in jenny. scrrrrch
we are a go on the rosemary pesto, confirm. scrrrrrch


allen, your sage harvest sounds great. have you ever tried burning it as an incense? no kidding, it smells wonderful, and gets rid of evil spirits, almost as fast as mudbug gets rid of liquid ones. (kidding 'bug )

i planted a small sage plant a few years ago, and it has continuously supplied me with those tasty leaves all year long. that reminds me: i will post my recipe for gratinata of veal, which features sage leaves, in the meat thread.

 

[shannon in KS]

I agree buckytom about making incense, and smudge sticks are good too! Here is an article... http://www.botanical.com/botanical/article/incense.html

 

[AllenOK]

Are you kidding? For three months, I was an Assistant Cook at Philmont Scout Camp, out in New Mexico. Sage grows wild all over the prairie right there at Base Camp. Every day, when the wind would blow, I could smell sage, dust, etc. The smell of sage takes me back out there.