In recent months, Janet has been gardening with five other people, mostly women - as she says, women are great gatherers and weeders. Among the four-bed rotation crops, which are run by Margaret Bonner, is a Solanaceous (nightshade) bed of capsicums, chillies and the tomatoes Black Russian, Grosse Lisse and Aunt Ruby which looks like a chilli. There are also nitrogen-fixing legumes including beans and peas, and beds with tatsoi, rocket, corn and cucumbers and a bed of greens.

Friends of Janet's in Wagga, Canny Kinloch and Jim Rees, are involved in the demonstration gardens which have been operating since 2001 on the site of an old brick pit. Volunteers work under the guidance of coordinator Jim, and he and Canny planted their own half-acre food garden about five years ago. This was an inspiration to Janet as well as a friend from Blackheath who attended a permaculture conference around 2017.

These friends encouraged Janet to turn a slope above her townhouse into "The Bank" as a Covid project. She found screen doors from the tip, star pickets on Gumtree and made a structure topped with cheap shadecloth to protect crops from fruit fly. She buys Landtasia compost from Canberra City Farm and lucerne as mulch. It is now filled with eggplants, zucchini, corn, tomatoes, celery and beans, mostly as seedlings from the farm and she has self-seeded basil.

Two highlights are Malabar spinach, an annual climbing vine, and black corn an Aztec heirloom with jet black kernels that are white when young. While the plant that tickled my fancy was salsify, also known as goat's beard. Salsify has an ornamental flower and edible root also known as the oyster plant due to its similar taste when cooked.

Near her front steps is a beautiful Nashi pear tree which, this season, has produced a huge crop.

Behind the house, The Bank is planted with potatoes under a plum tree. The seed potatoes were purchased via Canberra City Farm. They are grown and supplied through a local eastern seaboard biological farming cooperative that incorporates compost, biochar, basalt rock dust, microbial consortiums, worm castings, cover crops and regular soil testing with their growing programs.

They supply certified organic potatoes to chefs, shops, home delivery businesses and citizens in Queensland, NSW and the ACT. Varieties include Dutch cream, sebago, desiree, king edward, and kipfler. Enquiries to 0400 331 553.

Janet slices her potatoes in wedges, steams them, chucks them on a tray then air fries them in the oven on high heat to crisp them round the outside.

Because rosti is appearing in a number of smart local cafes at the moment, we asked Roger and Ann Smith, of New Acton, for their best recipe. They lived in Switzerland from 1998 to 2010 and loved the range of Swiss cuisine though a favourite potato dish was tartiflette, a French mountain savoyard dish.

With rosti, Roger finds the secret is to use waxy potatoes such as Dutch cream and a special potato grater that gives broad large strips. He uses a recipe from The Swiss Cookbook by Betty Bossi (a culinary company), published in 2009 in Switzerland in English, French, Swiss-German and Italian.

1kg waxy potatoes boiled in their skins the previous day, peeled. Grate coarsely into a bowl.

Season with 1 tsp salt.

Heat clarified butter in a frying pan. Add potatoes, cook for approx. five minutes, turning occasionally. Press into a flattish cake shape with a fish slice or spatula, then leave to cook undisturbed over medium heat for approximately 15 minutes. Lay a flat plate upside down over the frying pan and flip the rosti over onto the plate. Add a little more clarified butter to the pan and slide the rosti back in. Finish cooking the underside (approximately 15 minutes).

Tips:

Slowly sweat one onion, chopped or sliced into thin strips, in the butter before adding potatoes and cooking as above.

Fry 100g diced bacon until crispy, before adding potatoes and cooking as above.

Top with fried eggs.

Serves 2-3 as a main course, or 4 as a side dish.