Burning sage in the outdoors emits a very pleasant aroma enhances and space the scent wafts through. But did you know it can also be used as a natural insect repellant, as the smell deters mosquitoes and other flying pests?
No abalone shells required when lighting this mystical herb in the outdoors, but before you start tossing heaps of fresh leaves onto the blazing campfire, let’s take a look at the do’s and dont’s, and of course why we would want to know how to make sage bundles for campfire.
In addition to being a natural deterrent of buzzing pests, dried sage is believe to protect, increase wisdom, and even heal when burned.
Some of the believed benefits are:
The Sojourn Company has you covered for scents that bring the outdoors inside.
Another benefit of burning dried sage in your backyard or around the campfire at the cottage our back country, is a powerful and natural mosquito-repelling tool.
There are several strong-smelling herbs that Mosquitoes seem to hate, or at least don’t like to be in the proximity of.
In addition to sage, the following herbs have been used by many cultures over the course of history to ward of various things, including insects:
Using these herbs can help lead to enjoyable evenings outdoors with the use of less chemical-heavy alternatives.
While it cannot be concretely determined, the widely accepted consensus is that yes, mosquitos do not like the smell of sage.
Also a member of the mint family, Salvia officinalis, or sage and its essential oil was found to hold and up to 60% efficiency at repelling aphids in a 2012 Study
A though there are many methods of planting and burning herbs and flowers to keep mosquitos away, the practice of burning sage to repel mosquitos appears to be focused in North America according to this 2018 Survey.
In short, yes they do! The burning of sage and rosemary in a campfire or even table side during a dinner outdoors can help keep flying pests from interrupting, plus adding the tertiary benefit of smelling great!
Plus, the list does not just end with sage and rosemary. In Mexico, the burning of Copal has been a common practice for both spiritual benefits, but also as an aid in repelling insects.
Either planted, or burned, are a variety plants that can deter insects from being in your space.
A common practice is by planting garlic. Placing garlic cloves in around your outdoor spaces allow for the natural chemicals to do their job in repelling pesky bugs like aphids, mites, caterpillars, cutworms, beetles, slugs, mosquitoes, and flies.
In addition to garlic, lavender, lemon balm, basil, tea tree and rosemary. can also help keep outdoor spaces bug-free and will adding fragrance and beauty to the outdoors.
The most frequently used practice of adding sage to a campfire, and the one we will be discussing in detail for this article is drying, and bundling sage, to burn in an already blazing campfire.
To make your sage leaves last as long as possible, tossing a few leaves loose at a time might give off a slight aroma, and even slighter benefits of repelling mosquitos.
Before snipping off fresh clipping of white sage from your garden and tossing it on, there is a best practice for preparing sage to burn, starting with the drying of your herbs. For this we recommend preparing your sage as a smudge bundle.
To prepare a sage bundle for burning, let’s start with the best practice for preparing sage to burn, starting with the drying of your herbs.
There are 4 common methods to drying out sage in preparation to burning and are as follows. The slowest approach is to dry your leaves in the open air. If available, you can also dry them in a food dehydrator or the oven, and if time is a factor the microwave can also be used. Let’s take a closer look at these options.
The most common method, and the best for color and flavor is to hang dry your sage. Depending on the elements, the drying period for your sage can take at least a week, and the basic guidelines are as follows:
If you have a food dehydrator, follow these following steps:
A similar method can be repeated in your oven at home:
The fastest method to dry your sage leaves in preparation to bundles is in the microwave.
When bundling your sage to use as a smudge stick, or to be burned in a campfire, a cotton thread can work really well.
Hemp thread is another viable option, just keeping certain the thread is safe to burn.
Start with trimming your plant material from stem into a size that suits you. Next, cut a length of thread approximately 3-4 ft long, and wrap your bundle, interlacing the tread from tip to stem.
You can also bundle your sage or rosemary by binding it in chemical free, natural twine, or jute.
When burning sage within the home, the best practice is to hold your sage at a 45-degree angle, then light the sage letting it burn for approximately 20 seconds, then gently blowing out the flame, so that only smoldering embers remain.
When burning sage in a campfire, we recommend trail and error. If you are still being pestered by mosquitos, try adding more as needed, to find the sweet spot where the scent is pleasant and not overwhelming, and your buzzing, unwanted party guests, move on to a campsite down the road.
Looking for more info? Check out this video from J&J Acres below:
