Neil from Barton says his mother used to make gluhwein. The last time he had it "was during a 1993 visit to Hamburg where it was just the thing with the icy winds blowing into one's face off the North Sea. The gluhwein was accompanied by smoked salmon on a small white bread roll, an odd combination but it worked."

There was an email from Giles in Melbourne who wants to buy a Black Muscat grape vine. He said all enquiries he made of home growers told him the vines had been planted by previous owners of their places. A quick google revealed that The Diggers Club in Victoria is currently raising Black Muscat vines for despatch in September this year.

The winner of our Gewurzhaus Gluhwein giveaway was Sara Wedgwood of Belconnen. She sent the following poem written especially for us.

Gewurz for the winter gardener

Gluhwein Gewurz served in a kiln fired pottery mug,

Fish out the cinnamon quill and claim a hearty chug-a-lug,

raspberry and red currant fruit of cabernet franc,

Mt Majura's Dinny's Block is to thank,

Ordinal vines, dirt laden hands, and Gewurzhaus ingredients,

Cold gardeners of Canberra you can easily repeat

such warming delight topped off with the dream,

Home made apple pie with ginger pastry n cream.

By chance, the winner of Trisha Dixon's book Spirit of the Garden (Kitchen Garden, July 13) has sent us a recipe for apple pie. Anne Sewell of Narrabundah said the recipe comes from a family friend in Massachusetts, in the New England region of the United States and that it is just as delicious as breakfast fruit without the pastry. Sewell named her special place as the Narrabundah Wetlands for the water, wrens, ducks, herons, reeds and trees, farming, model cars, dogs and friendly people.

A number of Canberra kitchen gardens have adjoining frog ponds with the allure of wriggling tadpoles. Then Barnaby Joyce said last month, re a 2050 zero carbon emissions target, that they don't care about the price and they'll accept anything for lunch when what turns up is "sauteed gherkins and sashimi tadpoles".

Lured to Narrabundah Wetlands I parked next to Mill Creek Oval, off Matina Street, at lunchtime on a recent sunny weekday. There were three dog walkers, two joggers, and me, but no one needed company because the chorus of frogs was so companionable. As my visit followed two days of rain, the water was flowing quickly and gushing out of the reed beds. ACT Healthy Waterways signs explain the wetlands. Work was completed two years ago. There is one picnic table with benches and overhead cover and a seat near the water.

Forget tadpoles a la Barnaby but kitchen gardeners can grow short rough-skinned cucumbers just for pickling. Diggers sell seeds of organic Japanese Climbing cucumbers which can be pickled and a micro heirloom variety called Mexican Sour Gherkin which is said to taste sweet and sour, just like a gherkin. Snack on them with cheese and crackers but Narrabundah Wetlands is the spot for apple pie and take the thermos or a glass of Dinny's Block.

Pie crust:

1 or 2 puff pastry sheets

6 medium Granny Smith apples

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp salt

1 1/2 tbsp cornflour

1 lemon, juice and zest

1 1/2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp cream

1 egg yolk

Line 18cm pie dish with one pastry sheet.

Peel, core and very thinly slice the apples. Combine sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and cornflour and sift over apples, stir gently until coated. Place apples in layers in pie dish. Dot apples with the butter and sprinkle with lemon juice and zest and the cream.

Cover with remaining sheet which has been brushed with beaten egg yolk - prick pastry to allow steam out. Trim, and if enough pastry, make diamond shapes and twist - place on top. Cook on high heat (200-210C) for 10 minutes, until the pie is brown and pastry puffed. Turn down heat to allow filling to cook gradually - approximately 20 minutes. Serve hot or cold.