Some readers of this column, and I, have been growing the plants for months, raised from Johnsons World Kitchen seed, but none of us have the petit posies yet. Coles sells them as

Kalettes, grown in the Adelaide Hills.

Carol Anderson has been living in Aranda since 1968. She is a keen bush walker who keeps a lookout for interesting native plants. She first found the mountain pepper (Tasmannia lanceolata) in abundance off a track (not in a national park) in the Blue Mountains. The group found a taste of the peppers very hot but collected seed. On another occasion her eyes wandered when having lunch with an urban gatherer friend in a forestry area in Tasmania and there were the tall evergreen shrubs of mountain peppers with their reddish branchlets. The mountain pepper berries are black when ripe and these and some leaves were placed in a kitchen drier where Carol and her friend were staying. Tasmannia can be successfully grown in Canberra and it survives cold winters.

On our visit Carol had baby seedlings in mini tube pots on a terrace table in the sunshine. They are moved to a north-facing window sill overnight. She has sown Jalapeno, Thai and Anaheim chillies, cherry and Roma tomatoes and, from saved seed, the tasty meaty oval Riesentraube which is an old German heirloom tomato with clusters of fruit.

Friends and Carol get together for jam sessions when they make marmalades from homegrown lemons, Seville oranges and blood oranges grown in the Araluen Valley. She also preserves lemons and makes tomato sauce with capsicum, celery, chilli, cinnamon, peppercorns, onions, garlic, cloves and cider vinegar so it is gluten free. Bread and butter cucumbers are another pantry staple and a red pepper jelly made from red capsicums, chilli and cider vinegar and the pectin comes from lemon skins which are boiled up in water and the liquid used.

In the large back garden one square raised wicking bed is devoted to asparagus which is already pushing up thick stems. It is grown with strawberries as these are said to be good companion plants.

There is a large greenhouse made by Carol from recycled materials - roofing base for the sides of beds, polypipe arched over the top to support netting, free second hand pavers, and recycled timber. Currently it is filled with silver beet, parsley, kale, rocket, salad mix greens, chervil, dill, snow peas, coriander, daikon, broad beans, sugar snap peas, English miniature spinach and garlic. Carol says her garden supplies her vegetables for the whole year. Dill self sows in the garden alongside beetroot, parsnip and spring onions. There are separate beds of thornless blackberries, gooseberries, raspberries and chives.

Lemon trees include Meyer and Eureka and a dwarf Lots-a- Lemons tree near the back steps.

A surprise was a thick clump of crocus which Carol said were saffron crocus which have thrived for years but do not put out the flowers with their crimson stigmas which bear the saffron, one of the most expensive spices in the world.

A favourite dish of Carol's which she has an abundance of eggplant is to slice them then barbecue the eggplants and have a bunch of silver beet which is wilted and chopped and then made into a lasagne layered with sliced mushrooms and a thick white bechamel sauce poured between layers and over the top and finished with grated nutmeg and Parmesan.

Readers who are inspired by Carol Anderson's skill in creating a bountiful greenhouse will be encouraged by The Thrifty Gardener (ABC Books/Harper Collins). When the author Millie Ross planted a corn kernel which grew and fresh corn was on the table by Christmas, it prompted her to study horticulture and start building gardens with friends.

The book is based on her column in ABC Gardening Australia magazine. With recycling a theme, there are wicking beds, an edible cubby house inspired by her young children, self-watering pots and a native bee house.

Edibles to grow, pick and try include capers, perennial beans, rhubarb, Warrigal greens, legumes, root veg, fruit herbs and spices. To win, describe your best thrifty gardener trick in an email to: bodenparsons@bigpond.com