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Can I freeze excess sage leaves?

WildFlower85WildFlower85 Cambridgeshire, UKPosts: 124
in Fruit & veg
I have a sage plant that is starting to look a bit yellow from the wet weather. As winter isn't like to bring about many dry spells, I'm wondering whether it's worth removing some of the stems, and popping the leaves in the freezer for use over the winter before the leaves get worse?

The sage plant is it a container with other dry tolerant plants (lavender, thyme, salvia etc) and is made up of mostly compost mixed with grit, with good drainage at the bottom. Just mentioning this to show that the plant isn't sitting in wet ground.

Also the underside of the plant has quite a few shrivelled and brown dying leaves. Should I wait to Spring before cutting those away? The plant itself was bought quite small this summer so isn't huge but is probably around 30cm wide now.

Posts

  • FairygirlFairygirl west central ScotlandPosts: 35,358
    Yes - I've done that in the past as it doesn't survive winters here.
    Not grown it for a long time though.

    They do get some shrivelled/dead leaves though,  which you can just pick off.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....


  • WildFlower85WildFlower85 Cambridgeshire, UKPosts: 124
    Good to know! I love sage but even we can't eat our way through a whole plant of it at the speed it grew over the summer! Will try and gently remove the browning/dead leaves, and chop off some of the top growth for the freezer.
  • B3B3 Posts: 15,495
    Ours survives the winter here. You might be lucky. It'll do no harm to snip off and freeze some shoots.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • philippasmith2philippasmith2 Posts: 9,636
    If you ever use it with butter ( risotto or similar ), you can chop the leaves, stick them in one of those paper Cup Cake things and pour melted butter over, let them cool and put in the freezer.  I also use this method for Parsley.
  • WildFlower85WildFlower85 Cambridgeshire, UKPosts: 124
    @philippasmith2 I do make a lot of risottos! Would this work with olive oil instead of butter? And I presume you mean chop into smallish 5mm or so?
  • philippasmith2philippasmith2 Posts: 9,636
    I'm not sure that olive oil would actually freeze sufficiently - it "separates" when it is cold stored but freezing ??
    Maybe others would have a comment on that aspect ? 
    I should have said that I always tear my Sage leaves rather than chop so I don't fuss too much about actual size. If the leaves are large with an obvious stem, I discard the stem but otherwise the whole thing is used.
    Here in the SW, the sage will do all year so I only freeze if drastic weather is forecast.
  • Bee witchedBee witched Scottish BordersPosts: 619
    Hi @WildFlower85,

    I use some of those silicone ice cube moulds for freezing herbs.

    I chop them up small and stuff as many as possible into each cube. Then top up with water and freeze. When I need some it's easy to just pop them out and put them in a sieve until the water melts and drains.
    They are always nice and fresh and work fine in recipes.

    Bee x
    image



    Bees must gather nectar from two million flowers to make one pound of honey   
  • WildFlower85WildFlower85 Cambridgeshire, UKPosts: 124
    Great advice everyone thanks! Glad to have so many options to freeze the sage before it gets even more yellow from all the rain. Lots of tasty dishes to come this winter!
  • FireFire LondonPosts: 7,375
    It's lovely to dry sage and then burn on a fire, bbq, or as a smudge around the house. Beautiful smell.
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