Sage plants can be found individually scattered around Ikaria. On the center of the island though, there is an area of a few square kilometers where sage dominates. Apart from having found its spot, it has been helped by goat overgrazing that keep it clean from competitors. A shepard will tell you that the only time the goats will graze the sage, is when they are sick and only in small amounts. Their biology has embedded the knowledge of sage’s toxic and at the same time healing properties due to their coexistance in the Mediterranean landscape for thousands of years.
Sage has more essential oil quantity during September when the seeds are getting ready. Nevertheless, when it flowers in April, it yields less, but its essential oil is more rich in components, thus more complete and better for therapeutic purposes. We make our essential oil only from the flowering season of our sage, taking the top leaves and flowers to distill.
We find the scent of our sage sweet but penetrating and cleansing. Its hydrosol retains a lot of that scent’s power as well.