Harvesting Sage: All About Drying, Freezing, And Preserving

Sage belongs in every herb bed. We show everything about correct harvesting, storage, and other conservation methods. This is how sage is preserved!

Harvest sage at the right time

The taste of the sage before flowering is best. If the plant develops the buds and flowers, the plant uses a large part of its energy for this and thereby loses some of its unmistakable aromas. The flowering period can be counteracted by continuously harvesting the young shoots. With “No-Flower” there is a modern variety that does not tend to flower.

Harvesting sage: all about drying, freezing, and preserving

With the beginning of flowering, the sage leaves lose their aroma and should therefore be harvested beforehand

The young leaves are particularly delicate in texture and the most aromatic. It is best to harvest the young shoots in the morning hours. In general, you should only harvest as much as can be used directly.

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Preserve sage

Especially after a topiary, you usually have more sage leaves available than you can use directly. The leaves can be stored in the refrigerator for about two weeks. To do this, wrap the entire sage instinct in a damp kitchen towel. If you want to preserve the leaves for a longer period of time, many are desperately looking for methods to conserve the aromatic leaves as gently as possible.

Harvesting sage: all about drying, freezing, and preserving

Dried sage can be used as a kind of incense stick

Many hobby gardeners immediately think of drying. This is generally possible in a dry room or the oven at a low temperature (max. 60 °, wooden spoon between the oven door clips so that the moisture can escape). One reason why drying is so popular is probably the dried sage from the supermarket. Sage is very easy to store in this way, but the leaves lose most of their aromas.

Harvesting sage: all about drying, freezing, and preserving

If the sage leaves are not freshly processed, they can be preserved by drying or freezing them

Freezing is a much better option. This is particularly useful for making sage butter or olive oil sauces. The leaves take up little space in the freezer and can therefore be kept for over a year. If you cook a dish that is to be refined with the unmistakable sage taste, you can remove one or two leaves and “crumble” them directly into the sauce while frozen.

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Harvesting sage: all about drying, freezing, and preserving

Sage goes great with parmesan.

You can also process sage into herb butter and then freeze it. For this, you take about 500g butter per 100g leaves. This is gently heated on the stove together with the shredded leaves. After about 5 to 10 minutes on a medium setting, the mixture is allowed to cool, portioned, and then frozen. This sage butter can easily be stored in the freezer for six months.

Harvesting sage: all about drying, freezing, and preserving

The different types of sage can be very decorative

You can also grow other aromatic plants in your own garden and refine your dishes after the harvest.

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