My Great Grandfather (The Kraut Man) used to grow his own sage. It was quite potent, a pinch would do, extremely potent compared to the cheapo brand I have in my pantry right now ... grandma and mom used up the remainder of it for years after his passing but it eventually ran out.

I thought to try ordering seeds and grow my own, for myself and to gift to mom. If I got it right she'd be thrilled.

Any of you green thumbs out there know what variety I should grow? About all I can tell you is it was very dark green. Or should I just order some quality stuff from Penzey's for example?

Edit: the darker leaves in the picture here are the color I remember

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Shawn W,

I grew some last year, dried it and made rubbed sage...it was STILL nice and strong this year - much moreso that the normal stuff in the store. Wonderful stuff, I will grow more next year as I am almost out. I was able to get starter plants in the spring.

If you order try thespicehouse.com rather thanPpenzys. its the same family (the penzys son started penzys and the daughter and son in law started the spice house. They grind what they need and don't prepak and warehouse so IMHO its fresher. They sometimes have unique things that Penzys doesn't.

I'm lucky ehough to have them a 15 minuted drive from my house and a penzys about 2 minute walk...I almost always use the spice house unless I'm in a real pinch.

Culinary sage (salvia officinalis), aka garden sage, would likely be it, though it is also possible that it could be 'Dalmatian' sage (ssp. minor). Leaf color can vary due to age of the leaves and lighting. The sage Penzey's sells is culinary sage. It is not at all difficult to grow.

I suppose if there are only two and with seeds being as cheap as they are I'll grow both, see what I like, use one or both or mix.

In the meantime I'll try thespicehouse.com.

Thanks all.

There are more than two but only two, really, that are considered for culinary use. There are a few in Central America and Mexico, and others in parts of the Levant and Europe, that are used in cooking, mostly in those areas, but they are rather different from S. officinalis and not something you'd likely think similar enough to culinary sage for use in that way.