The Greek word for king is basileus 

In France is it known as l’herbe royale 

When India was under British rule, instead of swearing on the bible in court, Hindus were allowed to swear on holy basil! 

Evidently, basil is held in very high esteem around the world and that certainly rings true with us.  We grow several varieties including purple, lime and cinnamon and enjoy them in a great many dishes from salads to lasagne to fish and even ice cream.

As Matt squinted only yesterday 'somehow I don't really consider basil a herb, it's more than that'.

Rocket has had a bit of a journey over the years (ha!) as it has gone from weed to somewhat exotic to commonplace and of late some people have fallen out of love with this peppery leaf.

Well not us, although that’s because we grow a round leaf variety called Rocket Green Brigade.  The flavour is far superior to the usual rocket that you’ll find on supermarket shelves or mixed in with a salad at most gastro pubs.  This little beauty has enough flavour to send you in to orbit (sorry...) and we can't recommend it highly enough.  

Not a large tree native to North America, a tall person with ginger hair or even a star that has exhausted its supply of hydrogen and switched to thermonuclear fusion in a shell surrounding the core.  Although easy to get them mixed up, this Giant Red is a salad leaf. 

With a strong mustard flavour its beautiful purple ruffled leaves pack some punch, we pick them young so the flavour doesn’t get too much and if we don’t keep on top of them they can get rather out of control as you can see from the picture below.

An Oriental Brassica, this tasty leaf likes the cool weather so we grow it in autumn, winter and spring. A real favourite amongst the Veg Men, especially Sam.

By the way, it’s reckoned we have around five billion years until our sun uses up its supply of hydrogen, so it’s probably best to hurry up and try some Giant Red before we can’t grow it any more.