Harvey had bought the rhizomes from Diggers in Victoria and Four Seasons Herbs in Coffs Harbour. This month we asked if he was still growing wasabi. He replied, "Yes, but with great difficulty. It doesn't like the heat we have been having and is suffering. Our yield has been poor. I felt seriously inadequate as a wasabi grower when I saw the size of the rhizomes in the shops on a very recent trip to Japan."

The Australian expert is Stephen Welsh of Shima Wasabi in Devonport, Tasmania, who founded the company with his wife Karen. They spent 12 years researching and perfecting the art of growing authentic Japanese wasabi.says wasabi takes two years to mature and should be planted in autumn into well matured compost. His is grown in climate-controlled greenhouses using rainwater harvested on site and a hydroponic system. The company was sold to TasFoods last May but Stephen is staying on as general manager. Lyndelle Francis from Shima Wasabi says they have plenty of Pure Wasabi Powder, concentrated and freeze dried, for home use (available online) and they have been sending out fresh produce to restaurants.

The most important of these is Tetsuyas in Sydney. A friend from Red Hill recently served Tetsuyas Wasabi Mustard on thinly sliced beef at a twilight drinks party and she had bought the condiment from a butcher in Randwick, Sydney. In Canberra, it is stocked by IGA Ainslie, Deli Planet and Mart Deli at Fyshwick Markets and Food Lovers at Belconnen Markets.

Margarete Lethorn from Tetsuyas Restaurant says their mustard "is made from Tasmanian wasabi stalk/stem and it is very temperamental." The problem is grating the wasabi. The Japanese use specialty graters to ensure the wasabi is prepared to a smooth paste. The knobbly stem is held at 45 degrees and grated in a circular motion.

With author Kate Grenville discussing her new book The Case against Fragrance at the National Library last night, kitchen gardeners can consider their preference for the natural smell of plants linked to our food, rather than laboratory creations.

Oscar, originally from Argentina, is the perfumerie expert at David Jones Woden and I mentioned to him my addiction to the smell, as well as the taste, of basil. He said Tom Ford created Extreme for men with basil as a high note, and Jo Malone has a lime and mandarin cologne with a wink of peppery basil. Oscar would like a kitchen garlic spray to stimulate the taste buds.

If you like the idea of a choc mousse body cream or an energy boosting coffee body scrub, tell me what savoury taste and smell does it for you. For the most stimulating answer (email: bodenparsons@bigpond.com), we have a copy of All Natural Beauty by Karin Berndl and Nici Hofer (Hardie Grant Books). They have with recipes for organic and homemade products including squashed raspberries or avocado and banana face masks and finish with a green tea toner which you can drink and use to spoil your skin.

On December 13, I mentioned buying at Bunnings a 'Cut & Cook' advanced eggplant, a new release from the Floriana range called 'Fairytale'. It has produced an amazing crop of purple and white miniature eggplants of which 25 have been shared with friends, 10 sauteed in olive oil or grilled and eaten by me, and there are still 10 fruit forming on the plant. It is growing in a large black plastic pot and is quite thirsty - aren't we all! Recommended.

Cucumber season is here and you might want a recipe for Jewish NYC Deli pickles. Freddie Janssen is a pickle lover who moved to London from Holland in 2008. She is founder of F.A.T., a pop-up cafe and supper club, and purveyor or her own pickles, kimchi and sauces.

Her book, Pickled (Hardie Grant Books), has a funky design with 60+ recipes for on trend fermented foods. There is a DIY Sriracha full of chillies, kale kimchi, pickled mustard greens, red miso baby aubergine (eggplant) pickles and rhubarb and jasmine water kefir. To win a copy of Pickled tell us what vegetable, fruit or herb you most want to preserve and why and email with your name and address to: bodenparsons@bigpond.com

Susan Parsons is a Canberra writer.