Sage and Salad Days

Herbs are the understated heroes  in my garden. They provide flavour for food and drink, interest for the eyes and a welcome for the wild pollinators that frequent garden and allotment. Probably my favourite temperate herb is sage.

I am not a fan of salvia officinalis, though I do enjoy the flowers and will always find space for it in my garden.

On the other hand I am in love with the fruity notes and versatility to be found in tangerine, pineapple  and

Blackcurrant sages. The flowers are a great salad ingredient and what salad dressing isn’t elevated by the fragrant leaves?
My favourite is a quick and simple blend of;

pineapple and blackcurrant sages,
a couple cloves of  roasted garlics
A small shallot
Juice of half an orange
Raw cider vinegar
Sweet almond oil
A desert spoon of yacon syrup.
Salt to suit

My most efficient mortar and pestle - picked up from Brixton and still going strong after 25 years - make short work of blending these into an amazing finish for any salad combination.

Of all the sages I grow for leaves, Chia is my taste of summer. Fast growing and abundant. The leaves provide a reviving tea after a long night shift, to start a day of summer gardening; or this time of year, the autumn jobs needed to set up garden and plot for winter veg production and lay the foundations for the summer that will follow. I like it best steeped with lemon verbena and Pineapple or chocolate mint.

As my Chia don't start flowering until October I grow them outside for leaves and under cover for the beauty of their mauve flowers.

I do grow other sages but the fruit flavours of their namesake sages and the reviving aroma and taste of my Chia leaf teas are the ones that I prize in both my garden and my kitchen.