Sage

Hi there my gardening chums,

Today i thought i would talk about sage, this amazing herb is so versatile in all its uses, from medicinal to culinary use, making it one of the best to grow.

Sage is prized in many cultures for its healing and medicinal properties, which include antiseptic, digestive and antibacterial uses to name a few.

The Romans considered sage to be a sacred herb and held highly elaborate ceremonies for its planting and harvesting.  A sage gatherer would have a ceremonial bath to ensure his feet were clean and pure before walking on the earth where the sage grew.  After bathing, offerings of bread and wine would be made to the soil before finally harvesting.

Native Americans used sage as a toothbrush and toothpaste all in one.  They simply rubbed a fresh sage leaf on their teeth to clean the teeth and freshen the breath.  Sage's antibacterial properties would have been beneficial in this process.

Sage was one of the most important medicinal herbs of Medieval Europe.  It was believed to have the power to cure all imaginable diseases so no self respecting Apothecary's Garden could be without it.  In the Middle East, it was thought to improve intelligence, and the American Colonialists used sage to cure epilepsy, insomnia, measles, seasickness and worms.

Sage Tea or infusion of Sage is a valuable agent in the delirium of fevers and in the nervous excitement frequently accompanying brain and nervous diseases.

It has a considerable reputation as a remedy, given in small and often-repeated doses. It is highly serviceable as a stimulant tonic in debility of the stomach and nervous system and weakness of digestion generally. It was for this reason that the Chinese valued it, giving it the preference to their own tea. It is considered a useful medicine in typhoid fever and beneficial in biliousness and liver complaints, kidney troubles, haemorrhage from the lungs or stomach, for colds in the head as well as sore throat, quinsy, measles, for pains in the joints, lethargy and palsy. It has been used to check excessive perspiration in phthisis cases, and is useful as an emmenagogue. A cup of the strong infusion will be found good to relieve nervous headache.