All the produce is planted, tended to, watered and cut by hand, Alex says, with the team navigating the difficulties brought by unpredictable weather (including last summer’s 40°C days and freezing winter temperatures) and large-scale growing, including pests. ‘It makes things more challenging for us and it doesn’t give the efficiency it could,’ Alex, who previously worked as a chef, explains, ‘but it makes us very agile and nimble.’ Though they supply the local area, they work with restaurants right across the country, catering for a consistent demand which he believes comes down to micro herbs' balance of taste and appearance. ‘Flavour is the most important thing; that’s what is always going to drive home how chefs create things,’ he says, ‘if you are cooking gnocchi and use micro basil you are going to get an explosion of flavour in your mouth. You would get that with the [full-sized] herb but it would look less elegant on the plate and there's no alternative to that – you can’t cut something to look like a leaf of basil, or recreate the jagged edges of mint.’

Though Nurtured in Norfolk was one of only a handful of similar growers in its early days, it has since been joined by dozens of others around the country, including many who also began by tending to shoots from home. Some were inspired to kickstart new ventures after taking stock during the pandemic, when our increased adventurousness in the kitchen and focus on a healthy lifestyle made micro herbs particularly desirable (they are harvested at a time when their nutrient content is at its peak – they’re often rich in everything from vitamins A, C and K to folate and iron). Today, whether they are operating from farmland, tucked away in kitchens or nestled in urban vertical farms, there have never been more producers getting to grips with garnishes.

Ben Conway is an example of just that. Though he’d always had an interest in horticulture, his background was in technology and working with animals before Covid hit and forced a rethink. With friends in the restaurant scene, he knew there was an appetite for quality produce and found himself debating whether to grow micro greens or mushrooms. After settling on the former, Short Stack Farm was born on the edge of York in 2020, originally with growing on just three catering racks. During his first few months, Ben immersed himself in the word of micro greens, experimenting and problem-solving until he had a finished product he was happy with. Local restaurants and shops hopped on board, and he quickly grew to capacity, soon moving into a forty-foot converted fridge container on land belonging to farmer Simon Ackerley (‘I think he was a bit sceptical to begin with, but he gave me the benefit of the doubt,’ Ben laughs).

Today, Ben works with restaurants including Skosh York, The Feversham Arms, The Rattle Owl York, Arras and York Minster Refectory, as well as local farm shops and a handful of regular home cooks. Growing  hydroponically - meaning without soil – he produces micro versions of everything from nasturtium, fennel and garlic chives to coriander, basil and Mexican marigold leaf. ‘A lot of micro green growing – particularly with the brassicas like mustard and cabbages – is quite simple in theory, much like growing cress as a kid at school,’ he says, ‘but as soon as you start scaling up, things can change quite quickly. You can have all sorts of issues – damping off, fungal problems, pests, infestations, humidity problems and so on, so there is a lot of trial and error.’

One of Ben's biggest obstacles, though, has been the energy crisis. ‘The business is really sustainable in that we hardly use any water versus field-irrigated crops. We use no herbicides or pesticides and everything is grown to order as much as possible to cut down on waste,’ he explains, ‘but the downside is that we use a lot of energy in environmental control, dehumidifiers, air control and so on. Those costs have gone up significantly.’ Keen to offset its impact, he has started growing crops outdoors during summer, seeking out edible flowers and unusual herbs like lemon curd thyme, banana mint and strawberry spinach.

From herb oils to salsa verdes and pestos, we know the potential culinary power of herbs. And whether we're scattering micro watercress leaves on Esra Muslu's heirloom tomato salad, topping Nigel Mendham's open omelette with micro purple radish leaves or garnishing Adam Handling's stunning hake, tomato and crab dish with micro basil, there are countless ways to use the punchiness of micro herbs to elevate your cooking.