Our herb garden is flourishing. As well as favourites like rosemary, thyme, and chives, we grow some less well-known herbs. These are hard to find in shops so it’s well worth picking some to try next time you’re at the farm.

Sweet cicely

This herb was used to sweeten food long before sugar came to the UK and is still useful today to reduce the sugar needed with tart fruit. Worth a try with the last of this season’s rhubarb…

Sweet cicely has soft, ferny leaves and white umbrella of flowers, looking a bit like cow parsley. Add the leaves to raw or cooked dishes.

Try sweet cicely in rhubarb and sweet cicely compote or go savoury with fried pork and sweet cicely.

Lovage

Lovage has been valued for its medicinal and culinary properties since ancient times. As well as vitamins, it contains anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties.

The leaves look a little like flat-leaf parsley. The whole plant is edible, offering a mild celery-like flavour. (In Italy, it’s often referred to as “mountain celery”.) The green leaves are very good chopped into salads or lightly cooked summer veg. Steam the stems – the flavour mellows in cooking.

Try lovage in courgette and lovage pasta or a new potato salad.

French tarragon

This tender herb is more widely available in the UK – but it will typically be imported. Also known as true tarragon, it’s one of the four “fines herbes” in traditional French cooking, offering a sweet anise flavour. Tarragon is particularly suitable with fish, chicken and eggs.

Beware of the imposter, Russian tarragon. It looks similar but doesn’t bring the tingly aniseed taste to the tongue.

Try tarragon in the classic bearnaise sauce, with new season carrots or this year’s Coronation quiche.

Have you used our sweet cicely, lovage, or French tarragon? What did you make?