And a wise sage said unto me, Hey I go great on mutton!

Welcome to another fine episode of Lost in the Farmers Market, your weekly web log foray into permaculture, organic methods and sticking it to the man all in earth friendly format! Today’s topic is all about Sage, and while we plan to drop some wisdom on all you readers out there we certainly don’t mean an wise old guy when we say sage. Sage it self is one of the less regarded herbs in our daily life as it’s relegated to a background seasoning in most seasoning mixes and we really never stop to appreciate what precisely sage does. I have to admit the sage family is quite diverse, much like the Basil family, but its examples range into territories that the basils can’t even hope to reach. For the purposes of this article sage is considered in four groupings, Culinary, Herbal, Aromatic and Ornamental.  So now that the groupings have been decided lets start with the culinary group.

Culinary sage is best described as any sage that lends a distinct flavor to a beverage or prepared meal by means of the process of cooking or being cut up allowing the essential oils to mix in with the chosen food medium. That gives us five sage varieties to consider in this category. The five safe culinary sages are Common sage (Salvia officinalis), Berggarten Sage (Salvia officinalis ‘Berggarten’), White Dalmatian Sage (S. officinalis ‘White Dalmatian’), Pineapple Sage (S. elegans) and, Greek Sage (S. fruiticosa). The first three sages in this group may seem like a cop out, but all three are there because of the range of preference found for sage’s flavor qualities. The original seasoning Common sage goes well with lamb, but at times can be a bit bitter. Bergartten sage is about the same but has larger leaves making for an easier harvest. Dalmatian sage is the cultivated variety found in higher quality spices, and is far less likely to have any bitterness and thus works in more dishes. Pineapple sage is probably the work horse of the group as it’s crushed foliage adds a pineapple-melon flavor to any dish or beverage. Pineapple sage’s bright red flowers are favored by humming birds but it’s also a tender or herbaceous perennial in general. Greek sage is reportedly used like common sage but possesses a bitter-free flavor that has been said to fall between common and pineapple sage depending on who you ask.  Personally I like sage, it’s got a stately look in the garden with its seemingly fuzzy (P. sage) or ultra crinkled (B. Sage) leaves born on long strap like leaves. In most cases it’s evergreen, and although slow growing the flavor is very evident if used fresh. A dish served at the ranch using Berggarten Sage is a simple Omelet, with fresh paprika peppers, baby portabella mushrooms and a bit of freshly picked sage chopped as fine as possible. Season the eggs to taste but make sure to lightly sauté everything but the eggs separate then add to the omelet mix before pouring it into the frying pan. Respectively adding freshly picked Pineapple sage leaves to a batch of tea to be drunk hot or chilled to become iced tea later is very refreshing! Finely sliced Pineapple sage works in marinades, and as part of a salad if cut finely especially if a sweet salad dressing is used. On the internet you will find no shortage of rescipies for using sage in fresh and dried formats but those are my two, feel free to send in some or ask for that omelet one.

The second grouping of the sage family is the herbal group. Now one could ague that all sages are herbal and I would completely agree. The difference is seen with which ones are actually used to treat health issues most effectively and those are the sages referred to in the herbal group. That aside it is well documented that members of the sage family have value for their anti-sweating agents are antibiotic, stringent, antifungal, antispasmodic, estrogenic, hypoglycemic and have encouraging effects in fighting memory disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. I defy anyone to say that’s not an impressive list, however the best member of the family for this is the one that produces the most essential oils for which the easy guess are the culinary and aromatic sages. However the variety ‘Extrakta’ which is a cultivated form of common sage(S. officinalis)  produces the most essential oils and thus may be the best medicinally for getting all those nice effects from sage. Barring that Red sage (S. miltiorrhiza ) and Clary Sage (S. sclarea) are also noted to have had much medical use over the ages. On an unrelated note sage has been used as a preservative in meat for ages, and you may find it at your supermarket in ‘sage rubbed’ or ‘air-dried’ sausages in the meat aisle. The labels might not say sage prominently but the ingredient list should have it in there. The idea was that as a preservative, sage kept food from spoiling by means of what later people would learn was bacterial activity.

The third grouping of sage is the Aromatic types. Sage as an incense is a curveball most don’t expect because it only refers to two separate sage varieties, white sage (Salvia apiana) and Black Sage (S. mellifera) the latter of which can be grown in North Carolina! Both are known as sacred sage along with a third non-sage plant Sagebrush (Artemesia tridentata). It is fair to warn you, all of these have a very…pungent aroma when dried and then lit as one would do with an incense stick. However in Native American tradition this aroma is used to expel malicious spirits and to cleanse ones own spirit. I do not know if white or black sage are edible, but at least the black sage is rather stately and while it seems to not grow very long in north Carolina for the time it does it’s the most unique sage in the yard! I personally would love to try some white sage, but have no where to get plants so if any of you out there know of a reputable nursery please comment.

The final grouping to consider with sage are the ornamental types, which is where we take a turn for new territory when compared to basil. Ornamental sage is a xeriscaping hall mark and often is tougher then nails. As with any perennial ornamental sage is only as good as it’s grower and so you readers out there should be vary of what you are buying. Generally it is agreed that the following perennials are ornamental sages for numerous reasons; Golden Sage (S. officinalis ‘Aurea’), Purple Sage (S. officinalis ‘Purpurescens’), Tricolor Sage (S. officinalis ‘Tricolor’), Meadow Sage (S. praetensis), Scarlet Sage (S. splendens), Black and Blue Sage (S. guarantica), Texas Sage (S. coccinea), Woodland Sage (S. nemerosa )and Lyre Leaf Sage (S. lyrata). Unlike the other categories there are far too many ornamentals ages to cover each one in any detail. What I will talk about briefly are the most commonly available ones and that brings us to Black and Blue Salvia, which is a fine perennial named for its black stems, bluish foliage and deep blue flowers which hummingbirds and pollinators love. Then there is Texas sage to consider which is a fine herbaceous perennial that is best known by it’s most common cultivar ‘Coral Nymph’ and ‘Hot Lips’ both of which are stunning shades of pink.  The Purple, Golden and Tricolor sages are in the ornamental group because of their reduced flavor value compared to common sage. Despite the lack of flavor in this color trio they can make for some stunning borders when combined with lighter or darker companions who have contracting foliage texture. Perhaps the most common ornamental sage on the market is Woodland sage. Woodland sage is often seen in the racks at lowes as a ‘water wise’ plant and often has it’s qualities over-emphasized to the casual home owners who don’t know any better.

To cap off this discussion on sage I have to briefly discuss how to grow and care for sage. The basic rule of sage is to try and allow the roots to dry out between waterings as sage hates wet feet. Further more sage does not like prolonged periods of moisture and thus you must try not to keep its foliage wet. The soil it resides in should be reasonably enriched but also well draining and of course sage absolutely prefers a full sun location with good spacing between its neighbors for maximum airflow. Sage is largely pest free and only suffers from bacterial rot or leaf spots if kept too wet. One should harvest sage by snipping off individual leaves with as much stem attached to the leaf as is possible using a sharp scissor or knife and only take what you need. Since sage is slow growing you want to leave enough for the plant to recover. I can’t say that fertilizers seem to do much good with sage outside of the herbaceous types as a really good soil mix seems to outshine any fertilizer in the long term. This concludes LITFM’s look into the sage grouping and now, we move on to this week’s plant list.

Well considering that the weather has leveled out a bit you can expect it’ll be a good time over at the farmer’s market.  After all there is nothing better then blue skies and farm fresh produce in the summer time! This week I’ll have plenty of good info on the info table, copies of Southward skies and all kinds of cool plants. The market runs from 9:00 am through 1:00pm and is located at 325 Franklin Street. Feel free to come on down and peruse the market or even ask any garden questions you might have. The below is this week’s plant list.

Vegetables:

5x Burgundy Okra

4x Japanese Long Eggplant

4x Carolina Wonder Pepper (Sweet Red Bell)

4x Habenero Pepper (Hot!)

2x Tumbling Tom Tomato (Yellow Cherry)

6x Beefsteak Tomato (medium-large slicing)

Herbs:

8x Italian Parsley

2x Common Sage

1x Berggarten Sage

2x Hidcote Lavender

4x Cinnamon Basil

4x Sweet Basil

10x Egyptian Onion

Fruit & ground cover:

1x Galore Rose Strawberry

House Plants:

3x Pepromia verticilliata - Rotary Peperomia (house plant)

2x Sanseveria cylindrical – Spear Sanseveria (Houseplant)

-plus whatever else fits in the truck!-

With the herb of the week covered and the plant list posted this puts a cork in the bottle of another weekly episode of LITFM. Thank you all for reading and I hope to see all of you at the farmer's market on Saturday. If you have any questions about Sage or other Herbs (legal ones only please) feel free to stop on by and ask away. Next week we will be talking about common garden herbs in the Apiaceae family, oh believe me it's a trip you want to take! 

Remember folks keep 'em growing.

Staying cool in the summer

Welcome back to your weekly edition of Lost in the farmer’s market, today’s topic is plant selection and the effect it has on the frequency and amount of watering you will have to do during the dog days of summer. We also have some great garden photos for you, so stay tuned because your about to embark on a sustainable adventure into the land of urban farming!

The first thing to know when considering your plant selection with an eye out for reduction of watering is to remember that the entire process will be trial and error. What works in the test gardens may not work in your yard to the same degree. However most gardening is trial and error even with the best of circumstances and so you will never find yourself operating outside of the same element you always have been. It’s pretty obvious certain plants are complete water hogs, they just need more then average and commonly this group are the ornamental annuals. By definition an annual is a plant that germinates, matures and produces seed or fruit within the confines of one season. A prime example of a annual that often requires a bit of extra water might be Impatiens, Pansies or Violas. Much the same way a handful of perennials are equally dramatic complete with very pronounced or other discoloration and the biggest offender here is your lawn.  In the department of biennials and such most of the lettuces, spinach, radicchio, and Swiss chard are notoriously needy of extra water but yours truly admittedly overlooks this due to the produce factor.

The selection of what you put together will influence how much work you put into watering as well as the possible cost found in your water bill.  For instance if you were to have a full sun bed it would be wiser to put in a group of plants able to not only withstand the sun, but the humidity and soil factors. One could achieve color effects and shapes by selecting within the primary plant groups selected and still get the entire effect without the maintenance effort or the cost. This of course means you will have to think outside of what the garden magazines say, you may even have to discard your garden books to find what works in your yard. A case in point can be found with the Curbside mailbox bed at the Test gardens. This bed is an odd blend of perennials of several differing types. At the core of the bed is enriched topsoil that gets mulched yearly with pine bark. The bed is a raised one with a one foot internal depth and a slight incline in the back to counter the curve of the front yard. Here is where the design gets interesting and the point gets proven. The mailbox bed is centered around a Swamp Mallow, with a pair of flanking ‘Magnus’ Coneflowers, and a pair of spineless prickly pear cactus followed by, yet an other pair, two very vigorous Artemisia plants. In the front row buried under the artemesia are a matched pair of Star Tickseed plants the front row otherwise is all ice plants. The back row is filled with alternating Blue Beardtongue and ‘May Nacht’ Ornamental sage. Needless to say every single season has something going on and I never have to water the thing ever! The weeds can barely get a foot hold, and I get great but unconventional decoration for the mailbox.

Technically, the one plant out of place in the design is the Swamp mallow which is not supposed to do well in hot dry spots yet the plant has not gotten the memo. This is where trial and error becomes important as does knowing your soil quality. Using the case in point all if not most of the plants are matching in their needs (drought and heat proof), some have double uses (artemesia, coneflower, prickly pear) and at least one is a complete long-shot oddball plant (swamp mallow). It may take a few tries to get the selection right, but the trick is to start with a handful of core plants, then base the rest of the selections off of those plants to create an effect. When and if things die, consider why they died and if there is more then one if the others died. Some times despite the best of attention you get a bad plant or a disease comes in to undo your work. Just remember the key to selecting plants in regards to reducing watering needs is to pick the right plant, for the right place especially when it comes to exposure. If you match plants with the same needs and don’t shirk on soil quality after your plants are established you shouldn’t have much in the way of problems barring bizarre weather. But remember; think outside of symmetry too, a plain bed that’s all herbs or ornamentals is like having an invitation for complications.  If you mix and match your plants within the frame work of their needs the results will be nothing short of amazing over time.

A tiny little baby preying mantis hanging out on one of my paprika peppers!

This toad seems to like getting a shower as I water the castor bean plants.

Monarda fistulosa ‘Purification’ – Beebalm doing what it does best bringing in the bees

Hemerocallis sp. -  The first Daylily bloom of the year.

Foeniculum vulgare - Black Fennel with a small stink bug on it, note the diamond shape in the bugs carapace.

Ruta graveolens - Rue, the seed pods of this bitter culinary herb are unique in the carrot family.

These are black Muscadine grape vines, both plants are of the same variety selected for productivity as much as the neat foliage.

Another attraction to the local bird population for the test gardens is sand bathing where they seem to roll about in the sand.

Oregano in bloom is worthwhile to note because its flowers are a bit odd by mint family standards.

Santolina chamaecyparissus - Lavender Cotton in full bloom, not bad for an aster relative huh?

With all the garden topics covered as you all well know I will be at the Fayetteville farmers/ City Market which is located in downtown Fayetteville located at 325 Franklin Street. I will be there from 9:00 AM though 1:00 PM. I will have copies of Southward skies available and as always here is the plant list for

6x 4” pot Beefsteak Tomato

10x 3” pot Beefsteak Tomato

3x 3” pot Roma Tomato

4x 3” pot San Marzano Tomato

2x 3” pot Amana Orange Tomato

2x 3” pot Purple Calabash Tomato

5x 3” pot Nankeen Cotton

3x 3” pot Chinese Ornamental Pepper

1x 3” pot Asian Winged Bean

1x qt pot Red WeedCastor Bean

2x 5” pot Star Coreopsis

-plus whatever else fits in the truck!

With all that said, check back next week for another episode of lost in the farmer’s market when the topic will be about how to manage containers in the heat! I hope to see some of you down at the farmer’s market and as always folks keep ‘em growing!