Dereham Times

Nurtured in Norfolk supply micro herbs, leaves and edible flowers which are soldto top restaurants and wholesale groups. Pictured are nursery manager AlexDrane and his dad and nursery owner Allan Miller. Byline: Sonya DuncanCopyright: Archant 2017

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PUBLISHED: 17:22 08 August 2017 | UPDATED: 08:14 09 August 2017 Kathryn Cross

How Nurtured in Norfolk is making big waves in thefood world with tiny veg

If you have been lucky enough to dine in a Michelin-starred restaurantrecently, the chances are the beautiful garnish on your dish or the minivegetables in your side salad were grown in Norfolk.

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Tending to the tiny plants. Byline: Sonya Duncan Copyright: Archant 2017

A nursery on the outskirts of Dereham is leading the way in micro-veg andedible flowers and is getting chefs around the world excited by the weird andwonderful varieties it is producing.

Nurtured in Norfolk was started seven years ago by chef Allan Miller and hiswife Sue in just one greenhouse in their Toftwood back garden.

Mr Miller was head chef at Rare on Unthank Road in Norwich and startedgrowing a few vegetables to take into the restaurant.

But when wholesalers started buying his surplus he realised there was a minirevolution starting in mini veg.

Butterfly sorrel tastes of lemonade. Byline: Sonya Duncan Copyright: Archant 2017

Now the business occupies two huge greenhouses at the back of ToftwoodGarden Centre with more than 50 staff, has three farms in South Africa andtwo in Israel growing for them, and an annual turnover of around £5 million.

“I always enjoyed growing, but never thought it would be on a commercialscale,” said Mr Miller. “It has gone way beyond any imagination. We thoughtwhen we moved here the site would be too big but we already need toexpand.”

He said food consumption in the UK had changed dramatically in the past fiveyears. “It is more of a social event rather than just a need to fill your bellies,”he said. “We think of ourselves as instrumental in driving fashions and chefsbought into that. They want something a bit unusual, not run of the mill andanything new and innovative they jump on it.”

Growing in South Africa and Israel means they can have flowers available 365days of the year and if there is any produce they want to scale up they nowhave the capacity to do it.

Nursery manager Alex Drane and his dad and nursery owner Allan Miller. Byline: Sonya Duncan Copyright:Archant 2017

Everything is done by hand from the planting to watering, cutting to packingand as some plants can go from seed to ready to cut in just six days timing iskey.

The Millers’ son Alex Drane is now nursery manager and is keen to promotethe produce to a wider audience.

“In terms of longevity I think there will be a market for some time,” said MrMiller. “It is easy to diversify and if something doesn’t work you just trysomething else.”

Nurtured in Norfolk is visited by Ellen Mary of Mustard TV and gardeners (right) Michael Perry (aka ThePlant Geek) and (left) Lee Connolly (aka The Skinny Gardener) to film a program on the different plants.Byline: Sonya Duncan Copyright: Archant 2017

Hitting the screens

Nurtured in Norfolk is already becoming a bit of a TV hit as cookery showshave started taking an increased interest in the nursery’s produce.

North Norfolk chef Galton Blackiston took a film crew for the BBC food showSaturday Kitchen which aired in April.

A box of edible flowers. Byline: Sonya Duncan Copyright: Archant 2017

Now Mr Plant Geek Michael Perry, a regular on ITV’s This Morning and GoodMorning Britain, and Skinny Jean gardener Lee Connelly who has contributedto a number of TV shows including Blue Peter and Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch,have been out to Toftwood to film with Mustard TV’s Ellen Mary.

They are working on a new series aiming to put the fun back into gardeningand finding new and innovative ideas. “It’s going to be a relaxed show thatsays not every garden has to be a Chelsea Flower Show exhibit,” said Mr Perry.“I have done a lot of research into edible flowers but I have learned new thingshere.”

Tiny but tasty

Flowering plants fill the greenhouses at Toftwood. Byline: Sonya Duncan Copyright: Archant 2017

Some of the weird and wonderful varieties grown by Nurtured in Norfolkinclude:

Butterfly sorrel - eat the flower or the leaf and it turns into lemonade in yourmouth

Buzz Button - the flower bud has a numbing and strong tingling effect, alsoknown as the toothache plant due to its natural analgesic

Cucamelon - shaped like a tiny melon but has a sharp, cucumbery taste

Okahijiki - land seaweed is a gourmet speciality in Japan, juicy with a crisptexture and a tart, salty flavour

Peruvian marigold - one of the micro cresses, it mixes a zesty grapefruit andvibrant peppermint flavour

Sweet cicely - a sweet, aniseed-flavoured herb which is a very good sugarsubstitute

Variegated amaranth - green leaves streaked with red/purple with a mildspinach flavour

Viola - white, orange, burgundy, yellow or purple bringing a burst of colouronto any plate.

To find out more visit the website here.

Topic Tags:

Dereham Toftwood Norwich

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