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What Is White Sage? White sage (Salvia apiana) is a perennial shrub native to a small region of Southern California and Northern Baja California, Mexico. It grows naturally in the coastal sage scrub habitat — a dry, sun-drenched landscape shaped by ocean breezes, sandy soil, and the Mediterranean-like climate of the Southern California coast. If you have ever held a bundle of white sage, you already know its most distinctive quality: a deep, camphor-like aroma that is unlike any other plant. That scent comes from the essential oils concentrated in the plant's silver-green leaves — and it is at the...

We have had a ton of weather in San Diego, this Winter. Cold, rain, hail, and wind. This is unusual for us. Our Winters are typically temperate, consisting of days typical for the region: mild, cloudless and sunny.   I embrace these fickle days, starting clear, bustled with wind, dazzled with clouds, glazed with rain.   It’s been many years since Southern California has had such a persistent Winter. We have had freezing temperatures and even snow at our Sage Winds East farm.   White sage is indigenous to Southern California and Baja California coastal valleys and deserts. Our continual...

  Even after all these years of growing our own white sage, here on the desert coast of San Diego feels new.  Our few thousand plants on our original property near Jacumba Hot Springs in the high desert of San Diego County have different issues than then ones on our coastal property. To the east, we fend off gophers and rabbits and ground squirrels as they fight to eat the tender young shoots, rich with water. They often chew our water lines to refresh with the precious liquid. The ground out east is rocky. House-sized boulders dominate the landscape. The plants nest...