Sage Harvesting Do's and Don'ts

– by Rose Kern

On May 5, 2015, we had to make South Dakota sage a zero quantity on our web-site. We had a short growing season in 2014 and we knew we would probably run out of this very important botanical before the 2015 harvest happened.

We are excited for this year's harvest and are now posting our information sheet on what we expect from wild crafters in our area.

Sage Harvesting: We pay $7.50 per pound if the following requirements are met -

1) It must be harvested by cutting and NOT pulled up by the roots - we cannot buy sage with roots on it. Please be a respectful wild-crafter and leave the roots in the ground to ensure future harvests.

2) When harvesting, please choose the most leafy patches that are nicely filled out. We need to purchase sage with leafy stems. If the leaves are falling off of the stems we will NOT purchase it. The best time to harvest is before the plants go to seed and if there are too many seeds we cannot purchase the sage. The minimum length we will accept is 20 inches and the maximum length depends on the leafiness of the sage. Please trim the stem ends if they are excessively long and bare. We need to buy sage, not stems. We will provide pruners for you to do this before we will purchase.

3) It must all be LAYING THE SAME DIRECTION - that is, all the stems together and all the tops together. We can't have it all laying in a heap; it's best to tie up in small bundles after its dry because it's easier to haul and weigh. Tie it together so bundles stay tight and don't fall apart.

4) It must be TOTALLY DRY - it should crackle when gently squeezed. It must be sun/air dried. WE WILL NOT ACCEPT sage that has been dried in an oven OR WITH ANY KIND OF ARTIFICIAL HEAT.

5) IT NEEDS TO BE FREE OF WEEDS AND ANY OTHER MATERIALS. NO ROCKS!

6) IT MUST BE THE CORRECT PLANT - "MAN SAGE" OR ARTEMISIA LUDOVICIANA.

7) BUYING TIMES ARE FROM 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM, MONDAY - FRIDAY. NO WEEKENDS PLEASE. WE MUST ADHERE TO THIS SCHEDULE.

Unless you have visited with us personally about the total amount we are buying, towards the end of the season, it's best to call (605)-348-4822 (local) or (800)-456-3394 (toll free) to see if we are still taking sage. We stop buying either when we reach our quota or when the sage begins to seed out. NO EXCEPTIONS!