NEED a rare herb? The chances are that David Potts has got it. What's more - in the nicest possible way - he'll tell you what to do with it.
David runs The Herb Patch and sells over 120 different sorts of herb plants for you to grow in your garden or on the kitchen window sill. He's based near Ebchester, in the house where his grandfather once was the blacksmith. The forge is long since silent, but gardens and outhouses now overflow with little plots of plants.
The names alone seem rich with promise and poetry - sorrel, savory, tansy, tarragon, feverfew and wormwood, to name but a few.
David worked on farms, then was a milk man for six years but gradually became interested in herbs and their uses and started growing them, taking them to farmers' markets. "At the beginning I just had a little cloche in the garden," he says.
Then just before Christmas he took the big plunge, gave up the milk round to devote all his time to herb growing and selling. His wife Linda, a teacher and aromatherapist, is also interested, particularly in the medicinal properties.
"We're only learning what people have known for centuries. Modern medicine takes the vital part of a plant and is very powerful, but then there are often powerful side effects too. If you're dealing with the whole plant you should have a better balance." says David.
Sage tea, he says is good for sore throats, as is lemon balm. Feverfew is popular for headaches and migraines and the humble houseleek is good for burns and stings.
"People say - oh, we've got that growing in the garden, I didn't think it was any use for anything, but it is, it's just that we've forgotten," he says.
And while we're rediscovering lost uses for herbs, we are also far more adventurous in our use of herbs in cooking and want far more than the predictable two or three we can get from the supermarket shelves.
"I try and get some of the more unusual varieties. Horseradish is very popular now and Greek oregano - it has a much stronger flavour than ordinary oregano and is perfect for Greek cooking. "
He does eight different sorts of thyme and eight varieties of mint, with flavour ranging from apple, through ginger to chocolate peppermint which "tastes a bit like After Eights," he says.
All plants are grown in a peat-free compost and without using any artificial fertilisers or pesticides.
At the moment, you can buy plants only by mail order, over the Internet or from farmers' markets.
"A lot of customers ask for things they need for particular recipes but the others just enjoy looking round, buying something a bit different and experimenting," he says.
His herb plants have long since out grown that first cloche and the garden. There is now a poly tunnel and plans - he hopes - for further expansion.
Re-discovering the richness and variety of herbs could be another way of finding long lost treasures.
* The Herb Patch. Tel: (01207) 562099 www.brockwell01. freeserve.co.uk
More than 120 varieties of herb. Plants are sold at farmers' markets or mail order only. Plants come in 9cm pots.
And, unlike supermarket pots, the plants are meant to survive and carry on growing. Most are priced at £1.60 each. Post and packing is £4 for four plants, £6.50 for eight.
David also sells ready prepared herb mixes for cooking - Hot and Spicy, Lemon and Dill, Garlic and Herb. £1 for a 50g jar.
Farmers' markets he attends regularly include: Barnard Castle, Durham, Hexham, Stanhope and Whitley Bay. He will also be at the Gateshead Flower Festival.
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