UK-Grown Herbs for Nutraceutical Manufacturers. What We’re Growing and Why
Five Bees Farm is a 17-acre regenerative agroforestry farm near Woolsery in North Devon, growing nine herbs as dried botanical ingredients for UK herbal and nutraceutical manufacturers: nettle, lemon balm, raspberry leaf, calendula, meadowsweet, valerian, marshmallow, peppermint and skullcap.
We’re not a trader or an importer. We grow, harvest and dry every herb ourselves, which means we can tell a buyer exactly which bed a batch came from, when it was cut and how it was dried. This post explains which herbs we’ve chosen, why, how they’re grown and handled, and what that means if you’re looking for a reliable UK source.
Key points for buyers
Nine herbs, one farm: every herb is grown on our own land in North Devon. We don’t buy in or blend third-party material.
Chosen for demand and reliability: each herb is already used by UK manufacturers and grows well in our mild, wet climate.
Cultivated, not wild-collected: including meadowsweet and nettle, which are often wild-harvested elsewhere.
Dried on the farm: every harvest goes into our own drying barn shortly after cutting.
Traceable by batch: each batch is linked to its bed, harvest date and drying record.
Organic pathway: we’re working towards Soil Association certification, with a target of 2028.
Supply builds over five years: first harvests are planned for 2028, with volumes and drying capacity increasing as the perennial beds mature.
Why source herbs from a UK grower?
Many of the dried herbs used in UK formulations are imported, and they often pass through several traders before reaching a production line. Each step adds distance between the manufacturer and the field, and that brings practical problems:
Limited provenance information: it can be difficult to confirm where, when and how a batch was grown.
Batch-to-batch variation: material from different sources and seasons can vary in colour, aroma and quality.
Identity risk: some herbs, skullcap in particular, have a history of substitution with other species.
Supply chain uncertainty: long, multi-step routes are more exposed to delays.
A weaker brand story: “sourced from various origins” is harder to tell customers than “grown on a named UK farm”.
Buying direct from a UK grower shortens that chain to one step. You know the species, the plant part, the farm, the harvest date and the drying method, and you can plan future volumes directly with the people growing your ingredients.
Where and how our herbs are grown
Our land sits near Woolsery in North Devon, a few miles from the coast. The climate is mild and maritime, with around 1,000 mm of rain a year, frosts that are relatively rare, and strong south-westerly winds. The soil is heavy, moisture-retentive clay.
Those conditions shaped every crop decision. Herbs that enjoy moist, fertile ground, such as meadowsweet, valerian, marshmallow, nettle, peppermint and skullcap, thrive here. Herbs that need hot, dry summers and free-draining soil, such as rosemary, thyme, sage, oregano and lavender, don’t, so we’ve chosen not to grow them. Growing plants that suit the site gives healthier crops and more consistent material, without relying on inputs to force them.
The herbs grow in an agroforestry system: rows of native trees with 1-metre no-dig raised beds in the 12-metre alleys between them. The raised beds lift roots above the wet winter ground. The trees shelter the herbs from the wind, build soil through leaf fall, support pollinators and wildlife, and provide woodchip mulch from coppiced willow grown on site. We use zero synthetic fertilisers or pesticides.
How we chose our nine herbs
Each herb had to pass four tests:
Manufacturers already use it. There’s established demand in the UK herbal and nutraceutical sectors, so we’re not inventing a market.
Provenance adds value. Buyers benefit from knowing exactly where and how the herb was grown, and some herbs carry real identity or wild-harvesting concerns.
It grows reliably here. A herb that suits our climate gives more consistent quality from one year to the next.
It’s perennial, or close to it. Plants that return each year give steadier, more predictable supply as the farm matures. Calendula is our only annual.
The nine herbs, and what buyers can expect from each
Nettle leaf (Urtica dioica)
What we supply: dried nettle leaf, cut before flowering. Planned formats are whole leaf, cut & sifted and powder.
Why it’s on our list: nettle is one of the most widely used herbs in UK formulations, and a great deal of it is wild-collected from hedgerows and field margins, where buyers have little control over what else ends up in the sack.
How we protect quality: our nettle grows in dedicated, managed beds, separate from field-margin plants. It’s cut in dry weather, taken straight to the drying barn and dried until crisp, keeping a good green colour and a high proportion of leaf to stem. Beds regrow after cutting, giving several harvests a season.
Lemon balm leaf (Melissa officinalis)
What we supply: dried lemon balm leaf. Planned formats are whole leaf and cut & sifted.
Why it’s on our list: lemon balm is in steady demand, and its quality depends heavily on how it’s handled after harvest.
How we protect quality: lemon balm’s citrus aroma comes from volatile oils that are easily lost. Research on drying the herb suggests keeping temperatures at around 40°C to preserve them. We cut before flowering, when aroma is strongest, move the leaf to the drying barn quickly to avoid bruising and darkening, and dry it at low temperatures. Light shade from our tree rows also helps protect leaf colour while it grows.
Raspberry leaf (Rubus idaeus)
What we supply: hand-picked dried raspberry leaf. Planned formats are whole leaf, cut & sifted and powder.
Why it’s on our list: raspberry leaf is a long-standing herbal ingredient, and a dedicated UK leaf crop is uncommon. Much of it comes from canes grown primarily for fruit.
How we protect quality: our canes are grown for leaf, not fruit, and managed for healthy foliage without synthetic sprays. Leaves are picked by hand from late spring through summer, sorted to remove any showing disease or discolouration, and dried the same day.
Calendula flowers (Calendula officinalis)
What we supply: hand-picked dried calendula flower heads, with petals planned as a second format.
Why it’s on our list: calendula is widely used across herbal and nutraceutical ranges, and buyers judge it heavily on colour.
How we protect quality: calendula flowers from June until the first frosts, so we pick fully open heads every few days and leave out any that have started to set seed. The heads are thick and resinous, so they’re dried slowly and evenly, out of direct light, until the centres are completely dry. That protects their deep orange and gold colour and prevents spoilage in storage.
Meadowsweet flowering tops (Filipendula ulmaria)
What we supply: dried meadowsweet flowering tops. Planned formats are whole and cut & sifted.
Why it’s on our list: meadowsweet is a native British plant, and most of the supply on the market is wild-collected. A cultivated, documented UK source is unusual.
How we protect quality: meadowsweet thrives on wet ground, so it’s one of the most reliable crops on our farm. We cut it in dry weather in midsummer as the flower clusters open, avoid damaged or mildewed foliage, keep stem to a minimum, and dry it at low temperatures to protect its colour and characteristic scent.
Valerian root (Valeriana officinalis)
What we supply: dried valerian root and rhizome. Planned formats are cut root and powder.
Why it’s on our list: valerian root is an established nutraceutical ingredient, and it grows well in moist UK soil.
How we protect quality: valerian is a two-year root crop, so we plant in staggered cohorts to build steady supply. Roots are lifted in autumn once the foliage has died back, then washed thoroughly to remove soil, cut to an even size and dried on the farm. Valerian develops its strong, distinctive odour as it dries, so it’s packed in sealed, odour-proof packaging and stored apart from our other herbs.
Marshmallow root (Althaea officinalis)
What we supply: dried marshmallow root, peeled or unpeeled to your specification. Planned formats are cut root and powder.
Why it’s on our list: marshmallow root is widely used, and the plant naturally grows in damp, marshy ground, which makes it well suited to the wet south west of the UK.
How we protect quality: marshmallow root is starchy and holds a lot of moisture, which makes drying the critical step. After lifting in autumn of the second year, roots are washed and cut into thin, even pieces so they dry fully right through, then packed in sealed packaging away from moisture.
Peppermint leaf (Mentha × piperita)
What we supply: dried peppermint leaf. Planned formats are whole leaf and cut & sifted.
Why it’s on our list: peppermint is one of the most widely used herbs of all, and UK-grown, traceable leaf gives buyers a clear provenance story.
How we protect quality: peppermint is a sterile hybrid, grown from runners rather than seed, so every plant traces back to known stock. We cut just before flowering, when the essential oil content is highest. Research shows peppermint oil content falls as drying temperature rises, so we dry it at low temperatures, then strip the leaf from the stem.
Skullcap aerial parts (Scutellaria lateriflora)
What we supply: dried American skullcap aerial parts (leaf, stem and flower). Planned formats are whole and cut & sifted.
Why it’s on our list: skullcap is the herb where provenance matters most. It has a documented history of substitution with germander (Teucrium species) in the supply chain, and it’s easily confused with Chinese skullcap (Scutellaria baicalensis), a different species used for its root.
How we protect quality: we raise our skullcap from documented seed and keep a batch record from planting to packing, with a reference sample retained from every batch. Plants are cut in summer while in flower and dried at low temperatures to keep their green colour.
From field to dispatch: how every batch is handled
The quality of a dried herb is decided as much after harvest as in the field. Every Five Bees herb follows the same path:
Harvest at the right stage. Leaf herbs are cut before flowering, flowers when fully open, and roots in autumn once the plant has died back.
Fast transfer. Cut material goes to our on-farm drying barn shortly after harvest, so it doesn’t sit in the field and deteriorate.
Cleaning and preparation. Roots are washed and cut to an even size, and leaf is separated from stem where the specification requires it.
Low-temperature drying. Each herb is dried at temperatures suited to its plant part, to protect colour, aroma and condition.
Packing and storage. Dried material is packed in sealed, food-grade packaging and stored away from light and moisture. Strongly scented herbs such as valerian are stored separately.
Batch recording. Every batch is given a code linking it to its bed, harvest date and drying record.
What documentation buyers can expect
For each batch, we plan to provide:
botanical name and plant part
country, region and farm of origin
harvest date and batch code
drying method
organic status at the time of supply
Laboratory testing, such as moisture, microbiological quality and botanical identity, can be arranged to meet a buyer’s specification.
How supply will build
Five Bees Farm began operating in 2026, and first harvests for trade buyers are planned for 2028. Supply will build in stages over five years:
Planting is phased. New beds are established each year, so volumes rise as the perennial crops mature.
Root crops are staggered. Valerian and marshmallow are planted in yearly cohorts, so roots can be lifted every autumn rather than all at once.
Drying capacity grows with the crops. We’re adding dehydrators to the drying barn as harvests increase.
Processing comes next. On-farm cutting and milling will be added in stages, so buyers can order finished formats direct from the farm.
Harvests are spread through the year, which helps buyers plan when new-season stock will be ready:
Spring and early summer: nettle and raspberry leaf
Summer: lemon balm, peppermint, meadowsweet, skullcap and calendula
Autumn: valerian and marshmallow roots
Because the farm is still scaling, we’re keen to talk to manufacturers now about the herbs and volumes they’ll need, so we can plan plantings around real demand.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I buy UK-grown herbs for nutraceutical products?
Five Bees Farm grows and supplies dried nettle, lemon balm, raspberry leaf, calendula, meadowsweet, valerian, marshmallow, peppermint and skullcap to UK herbal and nutraceutical manufacturers. We sell to businesses only.
Are your herbs wild-harvested?
No. Every herb is cultivated on our farm, which gives us control over cleanliness, harvest timing and traceability.
What formats do you supply?
We plan to supply whole dried herbs, cut & sifted material and powders, depending on the herb and our on-farm processing capacity.
What documentation do you provide?
Each batch comes with its botanical name, plant part, origin, harvest date, batch code and drying method. Laboratory testing can be arranged to meet your specification.
Can I get samples?
Yes. Samples will be available from each harvest while stocks last. Register your interest and we’ll contact you when new-season material is ready.
Can I reserve future supply?
Yes. Root crops such as valerian and marshmallow take two years to reach harvest, so we welcome early conversations about volumes and forward supply.
Are your herbs organic?
We’re working towards Soil Association organic certification, with a target of 2028. We’ll only describe our herbs as organic once they’re certified.
Do you make claims about what your herbs do?
No. We supply botanical raw materials and describe them by species, plant part, origin and processing. Claims made on finished products are the responsibility of the brand owner.
Plan UK-grown supply with us
If you’re a herbal or nutraceutical manufacturer looking for traceable, UK-grown botanical ingredients, we’d like to hear which herbs, plant parts, formats and volumes matter to you. Email hello@fivebeesfarm.co.uk or visit our Herbs page.