The Sage of sage

Check out this GREAT POST about Sage and it's uses over at Papa Geno's Herb Blog. Papa Geno is a real genius at growing, and he provides herbs, plants, and vegetables for a variety of uses. Here's an excerpt from the full article:

Most common among the culinary sages is garden sage, known botanically as Salvia officinalis. Hardy enough to grow in most of North America as a perennial, the subshrub has woody, wiry, square stems and pebble-grained grayish leaves. It's the sage most often found in dried poultry mixes.

Other varieties of S. officinalis worth trying in the kitchen include Berggarten sage, with broad, round blue-green leaves and Purpurea, or purple sage, with reddish-purple leaves.
Several varieties of garden sage are available as seed.

Given full sun, good air circulation and well-drained soil, S. officinalis is generally an easy plant to grow. It also comes in gold (Aurea), green and yellow (Icterina) and white, purple and green (Tricolor) forms.

Another type of sage, Salvia elegans, has special value on the dessert table. Varieties include pineapple sage, a three-foot-tall plant with sweet, pineapple-scented leaves and scarlet flowers, dwarf pineapple sage, and honeydew melon sage.

Leaves of S. elegans can be used in teas and other beverages, or finely chopped into salads and dessert batters. The flowers work nicely as a garnish and add color to cookie and cake batters.

You can order dirctly from Papa Geno at www.papagenos.com


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