Garden Sage, Harvest

 After picking your sage pinch off the leaves just below the leaf stem.

Place a single layer of leaves in your dehydrator and dehydrate for a day.

Sort out any bad leaves and set them aside with the stems.

   The innermost leaves are saved for freezing, because they are the most flavorful and tender parts of the plant. I use frozen herbs in place of fresh herbs, when my fresh herbs are not available.

    Stems, bad leaves and other trimmings are saved and used for either smudge sticks or potpourri, as the stems can be very bitter.

     This smudge stick was blended with wild sage, and allowed to thoroughly dry. It is wrapped with a cotton based embroidery thread. The different colored threads are used to color code the sticks so I know what each stick is made from.