In an article Get into ginger by Sam Wong on The Science of Cooking page from New Scientist magazine (April 13, 2022), he says, "Preparing ginger in different ways can increase or decrease its potency by transforming ginger into other molecules." So cooked ginger has a milder effect and sweeter aroma than dried ginger in which gingerol is changed to shogaol which is more akin to capsaicin, like a hit from chilli.

The local sweet potato harvest has started and tubers from a crop in Woden are great in soup, with finely diced fresh ginger added at the start of cooking. Sometimes I grate in turmeric from Southside Farmers' Market. Last week, members of University House gathered at the Drill Hall Gallery among Heart of Country indigenous ochre hued bark paintings. Guests were served healthy "no-nonsense cold pressed Hrvst St Orange Sky juice" - orange, pineapple and lemon juices plus turmeric.

For a sweet taste of ginger, nothing is better than a Dutch ginger slice, moist and chewy, made by chef Wim at L'Orange in Manuka. Have any readers grown ginger or turmeric locally? (email: bodenparsons@bigpond.com)

Lots of readers emailed about the Australian finger limes (Kitchen Garden, May 10, 2022). Maggie of Aranda bought one at Moruya markets a decade ago and it grew well and did flower but never fruited. However she is very fond of finger limes and says the pearls are wonderful in a gin and tonic and now Underground Spirits has done just that for the Raiders 40th anniversary gin.

Felicite of Murrumbateman says she tried two finger lime bushes believing the first one was a dud but she found the fruit far too bitter so replaced them with a yuzu, a traditional Japanese citrus fruit.

At lunch, a finger lime was shared by Anne of Kingston and Roger of New Acton and they both squeezed the pearls into their mouths and declared the tangy taste delicious. I had explained that if cut and left on a plate the pearls would exude from the skins. They did.

Then Sue Hall of Griffith emailed to say, "Brilliant squeeze don't cut thanks" and she sent a photo of her breakfast. There was a plate of healthy ingredients next to a bowl of bright orange persimmons from her tree, "fruiting for the second time in 10 years".

Sue said she was growing a finger lime in a pot and it always struggled until she planted it out in her vege garden near her fig tree. Her breakfast was a combo from The Fast 800 Keto book by Dr Michael Mosley. Her choice last week was scrambled eggs, smoked salmon, feta, mixed seeds and avocado with a squeeze of her own finger lime (which she had always cut until she read the column).

The generous kitchen gardener who shared his finger limes for these columns was Dr Leo Dobes and I wanted to pop something modest in his letterbox as thanks. His eldest son, also Leo, took a photo which was sent to me and it solved the decision.

Gaby, the household dog, also known as the newspaper dog, brings the papers into the house each morning. Gaby, a black Labrador cross, sent me an email: "Carrying The Canberra Times is worth three slices of top quality carrot [as it is delivered flat]. The rolled up Financial Review merits only two slices of carrot under the Canine Carriers and Teamsters Industrial Award."

At Canberra City Farm at Fyshwick from a feijoa orchard established by Mark O'Connor, four buckets of fallen feijoas are very popular with working bee volunteers who did the harvesting.

The trees are protected from kangaroos by wire cages.

Surplus crops from suburban kitchen gardeners are currently being offered "free to a good home" across Canberra, so Mark has put together a document to tell when feijoas are ripe. Individual ones should smell perfumed and have a very slight softness developing. Slice one in half and check the colour pattern. If the flesh is evenly white the fruit is not yet ripe. If there is a distinct five-star pattern (which he calls a Celtic Cross) with translucent flesh around the brown seeds, the fruit is ripe. The flesh should not be greyish. Ripe flesh can be scooped out, placed in sealed plastic bags and frozen.