If you must purchase this herb, you will need to choose between fresh, rubbed or ground. Use fresh sage whenever possible, and dry extra leaves to store whole (see directions for drying, Page 85).
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For the freshest taste, crumble or "rub" dried sage leaves between your fingers or the palms of your hands just before adding them to foods. Buy rubbed sage rather than ground sage, which usually tastes somewhat bitter and has a shorter shelf life than the other kinds.
GROW YOUR OWN
This wonderful culinary herb is grown easily in a garden, where its distinctive gray-green leaves provide beautiful foliage. A mature sage plant covered with sparkling lilac blossoms also is breathtaking to behold.
Culinary varieties vary in hardiness. Those with green leaves are hardy to Zone 5. Purple culinary sage, which features soft purple hues in the new leaves, is hardy to Zone C, but plants with golden variegation in the leaves may not survive winters north of Zone 7.
You can enhance the winter hardiness of sages by planting them in a sheltered spot, such as near the south side of your house, and providing a protective mulch. In Zones 2 to 4, grow sages in containers, and keep them in a cool basement or other protected place through winter. Sage needs a period of winter dormancy, so no supplemental light is needed while plants are at rest.
Culinary sage can be grown from good-quality seed, but particularly with named varieties of purple-leafed or variegated forms, purchased plants or rooted cuttings will ensure robust young plants that are true to type and flavor.
Sage plants favor full sun in cool climates; opt for partial shade where summers are very hot. Any well-drained soil with a slightly acidic pH is acceptable. The first summer, pinch the stem tips back two or three times to encourage strong branching. Expect heavy blooming in the second year, and again in the third.
Fertilize established plants in late spring as new growth appears, and again in late summer. Also prune back plants by about half their size in spring, soon after they begin to grow.
By their third year in the garden, sage plants usually become woody and ragged. To keep a variety indefinitely, root a few stem cuttings every year. Here's how:
