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.

DIY aluminum plant tags

Home made aluminum plant tags

So you may have wondered why I didn't use aluminum cans?

Aluminum cans are hard to work with and leave sharp edges. That's not to say you can't use them, just be more careful. If you use an aluminum can be sure to bend the edges over to eliminate sharp edges.        (note: If you can get cut on a piece of paper, you can get cut on one of these tags.) Sorry in this day and age with all the idiots out there, I have to put disclaimers on everything.

The aluminum I use is easy to work with and it's an aluminum that doesn't normally get recycled. It is not as rigid as aluminum cans, but still holds it's shape.
    The plant tags will last for a long time. I have some tags that are over 10 years old. The following is an example of what I put on my tags.

• Name of plant
• date planted (moon phases and or planetary  alignment )
• where purchased (note many stores guarantee plants)
• original location (if moved or propagated)
• herb, fruit,vegetable

Or

• Name of plant
• Ref number

Then have a catalog with the reference number and all the details about the plant that you could not include on the tag.

    Other ideas are to use the tags on gifts, as Christmas ornaments, luggage tags, or anywhere you need a nice tag.

(Note: disposable pie tins and disposable roasting pans also work very well . )