GONE are the days when chefs and home cookery lovers used just a few herbs such as mint and parsley.

Thanks to the Delia Smiths and Naked Chefs of television cookery programmes, English diners now want to explore the many different tastes in food, and unusual herbs are included in most recipes as more "educated" palates seek a new experience.

A new local business, trading as Herbs Unlimited, hopes to have cornered a niche demand for a wide variety of new, as well as more well-known, herbs.

Farmer Trevor Bosomworth and nursery gardener Alison Dodd have joined forces to launch a new company, Sandhutton Growers, on a four-acre site just outside Sandhutton, near Thirsk.

For Mr Bosomworth, a member of the well-known Felixkirk farming family which also has a farm at Sandhutton, the venture is diversification after the foot-and-mouth crisis wiped out the family's animals.

For Mrs Dodd, with a catering background, it is a dream come true; the chance at last to embark on a new venture close to her heart, following her successful run growing herbs in the garden of Northallerton prison, where she had a five-year lease.

"I got the lease because, when the prison became a remand centre, the prisoners could not be forced to garden," she said. The land is now a housing estate.

Mr Bosomworth met Mrs Dodd while he was investigating alternative sources of income after foot-and-mouth. They agreed they could benefit each other with a new company.

Mr Bosomworth had the land, a former outdoor pig area with ideal sandy, well-drained soil, and Mrs Dodd had the experience of growing and finding new herbs.

She was already trading successfully as Herbs Unlimited and even travelled to France for new and different varieties of herbs. Eventually she began to get them from other countries, too.

So Sandhutton Growers launched Herbs Unlimited at Sandhutton, where several polytunnels and greenhouses now stock huge varieties of herbs in different stages.

The latest addition is an up-to-the-minute packaging plant meeting the highest food hygiene standards, which has cost well into six figures. It has been designed on a "through" system, beginning with picked herbs at one end and finishing with packaging and chilled storage at the other.

The pair can now boast full farm assurance and full traceability from seed to finished products. They are specialising in herbs and baby salad leaves, bought mainly by wholesalers and food processors. They provide much of the herbs for a gourmet sausage producer for Sainbury's.

Mr Bosomworth said: "Buyers are now looking for fresh, rather than dried or frozen, herbs, ideally produced in the region. We only cut to order, ensuring freshness and quality.

Mrs Dodd added: "Everything is hand-harvested except parsley, and we use few sprays. I believe in bugs eating bugs."

The produce is grown on a bed system in four acres of covered growing area, and in eight acres of open fields.

Mrs Dodd has introduced new herbs, including lemon basil, Thai basil, purple and golden sage, lemon thyme, and edible flowers. Newest in the range is red cos lettuce. Baby salad leaves grown include speciality chard and chicory - a unique mix when put together. She is sowing a new red spring onion for harvesting later this year, along with celeriac and purple sprouting broccoli.

"Chefs are looking for colour, texture, quality and a mix of coloured lettuce; this is where we come in," she said.

The company also provides potted herbs for garden centres from April to June.

Their ambitious project is providing work for 11 people.

"We haven't finished yet, as there are many other venues to explore. We aim to be the region's number one in growing herbs, renowned for freshness and quality, " said Mrs Dodd.