Anne McIntyre - Herb Society President 2008/09

Council are delighted to announce that our 2010/12 President is Judith Hann. More familiar to some in the world of Science & Technology, Judith has been a member of the Society for some time now and a regular contributor to our journal Herbs. Judith is passionate about herbs and runs a successful cookery school Hann's Herbs from her home in the Cotswolds.

As soon as I left London to live in the South Cotswolds I turned a derelict pig yard near the farmhouse into a walled herb garden growing every different culinary herb I could find. Cooking with herbs and growing them in beautiful combinations has now become such a passion that the garden has been featured on BBC’s Gardeners World, I run a Herb Cookery School which is booked up for this year and the BBC are now considering a proposal for a TV series with me, growing and cooking herbs.

I have always been interested in plants and as a very young girl had a pressed flower collection and grew plants in my parents’ garden. At Durham University I studied Zoology with Botany and was told by one tutor, David Bellamy, the TV Botanist. “Judith – forget zoology – you are obviously a botanist.” The University gave me an honorary degree last year for what it called my “outstanding contribution to science journalism.” So to my great surprise I am now Dr. Hann.!!

Judith Hann attending the 2008 Herb Day at Garden Organic Ryton

After 25 years living in London with a tiny plot I dreamed of creating a serious garden. Fifteen years ago we took over 41 acres, gradually creating a garden which is now far too large and made the most serious part the herb garden, where I grow 150 different culinary herbs. It has transformed my cooking and developed into a small business too. My younger son, who had leukaemia as a teenager, suggested I should start raising money for the LRF by teaching people about herbs. As my main gardener, Stella Mills, is also a talented cook who worked for many years as a food lecturer at Swindon College, we eventually decided to open the cookery school as well as running herb garden tours.

I am delighted to become President of the Herb Society. It is an opportunity to persuade more people to grow more culinary herbs. Interest in herbs is escalating and more are sold in both greengrocers and nurseries. But it seems very sad to me that herbs I use every day in my cooking, like sorrel, lovage, oregano and chervil, are easy to grow but still very hard to find on sale in food shops. Let us hope that in the next two years we can help to change that dismal situation.

Judith Hann - Herb Society President 2010/12

Return to the President's Page

To make comments on this article, go to our Forum.