One display caught my eye. It was a long column of spices from Bent Shed Produce, among which was Oz el Hanout. When I wrote about a Ras el Hanout dressing (Kitchen Garden, April 20), the Moroccan-inspired spice came from Gewurzhaus in the Canberra Centre and it contains 25 select spices including mahlab and saffron. One reader added the dressing to lamb cutlets but said she did consider serving it with ice cream, it was so good.

Oz el Hanout is a combination of lemon myrtle, aniseed myrtle, cinnamon myrtle, ground pepperberry, wattleseed, mixed exotic spices and dried ground finger lime. A special ingredient is forestberry herb also known as strawberry gum (Eucalyptus olida), grown among cool climate native edibles by the maker Fiona Porteous on her property near Tarago. The three myrtles and finger limes come from a plantation at the coast and are harvested by Fiona but some finger limes also come from a few domestic backyards across Canberra.

We met Fiona at the Queanbeyan Palerang Markets (Kitchen Garden, August 22, 2017). The spice combination was first used in indigenous-flavoured hot cross buns, then purchasers said they were using it in Middle Eastern dishes. Oz el Hanout was born. Fiona's partner uses it as a rub on roast meat, particularly for barbecuing and spit-roasting. It is also good on root vegetables, particularly pumpkin and sweet potato.

Fiona has shared her recipe for "a very effective little biscuit" which feels like a gingernut except for the miniscule proportion of ginger in it. Very moreish!

Ingredients

100g unsalted butter, softened

165g caster sugar

90g golden syrup

60g wholemeal flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

3-4 tsp Oz el Hanout

1/4 tsp salt

260g plain flour, sifted

1 egg

Method

1. Place butter, sugar and golden syrup in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until pale and creamy. Set aside.

2. Mix baking powder, spices, salt, plain flour and wholemeal flour in a bowl until well combined. With the electric mixer on medium speed, add egg to butter mixture, beating until just combined. Gradually add flour mixture and beat until just combined.

3. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes to rest, don't worry if it still feels soft. You can also roll the dough into a long roll and refrigerate in this shape, for slicing biscuits straight off when chilled.

4. Preheat oven to 180C and line two large oven trays. Roll out dough to about 5mm thick and cut into shapes, or cut 5mm thick slices from the roll. Place biscuits on lined trays, leaving 3cm between each one and bake for 12 minutes, swapping trays halfway, or until golden.

5. Set aside to cool on a wire rack. Biscuits will keep in an airtight container for up to one week. Serve with mulled wine or tea/coffee.

Makes 60 biscuits.

Among winners of the Yates Dynamic Lifter, Thrive Soluble Fertiliser and Long Pod broad bean seeds (Kitchen Garden, April 27) are Gerry O'Brien of Ainslie who has a plot at Pialligo down along the river flats. Her mother served broad beans with parsley sauce, scrambled eggs and crispy bacon for an easy lunch or dinner. Her father used to come home for lunch from his business so that became the main meal. He grew the broad beans. Now Gerry grows them in her allotment in Pialligo.

Trish Keller says when she was among one of nine kids in Otago, New Zealand, and the oldest, her dad Chappie had a wonderful garden; you name it, he grew it. She remembers sitting on the back step with her mum and others roped in to shell the buckets of peas and broad beans to go with roast lamb dinner on Christmas Day. Others had been dispatched to the creek nearby to pick the wild mint. It was a team effort. It is a Christmas Day tradition retained by them all. Trish is giving her prize to the children of Giralang Primary School where she was formerly principal.

Next week we meet one of the winners in her home garden in Aranda.