Sow Gourmet

This is such a cool concept and I’m so happy I ran across this with Yee Gan O at the Borough Market during my London trip in 2012.
The modest booth displayed a variety of «micro-​herbs» which are actually the very things you can find in your soups, salads and gourmet dishes in high end restaurants, but that you can grow yourself!
This sparked our interested and we stuck around to find that it was extremely easy to grow your own mini gourmet garden. for a £5, you get a nice little container with a bedding sheet and a packet of seeds of your choice. You wet the bedding and spread the seeds around and in a few days you have micro herbs. It doesn’t get simpler than that. You can even order seed packet refills online with free delivery!
One particular variety I loved was a micro herb which tasted like potato chips, but ended with a bang of wasabi /​mustard seed. I know this seems crazy, which I thought as well, but it’s actually true! I tasted it at the booth and was able to try it again at home when I grew my packet. Amazing!

Borough Market is one of my absolute favourite spots in London and should be a must-​see on any self-​respecting foodie’s places to visit. There are a lot of great stands to visit, selling the most amazing produce, ingredients and ready to eat food
In amongst all the varied stands, Sow Gourmet may well be the most unique stall in the market. Thom Harvey, the owner, may well have caught the mood of current food trends. I had joked recently that despite my many cooking gadgets, I’m still missing a vital gadget which I’ve seen in many fine dining kitchens this year — a pair of tweezers to precisely place microherbs and edible flowers on dishes
Sow Gourmet offers you the chance to grow your own microherbs at home. They sell little kits comprising all the components necessary to make a little mini greenhouse to sit on your windowsill. Wet the litlte growing pad and sprinkle on the seeds. Within 7 – 10 days, the microherbs will be ready to eat. Perfect for people with limited garden space or for foodies looking for something new to experiment with
Thom has a variety of his herbs available for you to try and they really do pack a punch of flavour. My favourite, which I’ve used in dishes is mustard leaf frilly, which initially tastes like baked potato (yes, really!) and finishes with a strong peppery kick. Fortunately, my cooking obsession hasn’t yet led to me buying a pair of tweezers!
You can buy replacement growing pads and seeds on-​line from their website. With whole growing kits (including your first packet of seeds) costing only £5, this would make a nice little stocking gift for any foodies that you know!