Growing the Braidwood Garlic Growers
Project Workbook
Version 1.3
February 2015
By Dr Su Wild-River, Wild-River & Associates, www.wild-river.com.au and Bronwyn
Richards, Wynlen House http://www.wynlenhouse.com/
for the Braidwood Garlic Growers Group and
Upper Shoalhaven Landcare Council, www.uppershoalhavenlandcare.com.au
The following growers are acknowledged for their invaluable contributions:
Gilles Bonin, Victoria Clutterbuck, Richard Stone, Carol Kindrachuk, Conrad Kindrachuk.
Cover picture by Carol Kindrachuk.
This document contains general environmental management advice, and should not be considered specific to individual
circumstances. The information in the report is provided “as is” without representations or or warranties, express or implied.
Wild-River & Associates and Upper Shoalhaven Landcare Council make no representations or warranties in relation to the
information provided in this booklet. You must not rely on the information in this booklet as an alternative to site-specific
environmental management advice.
Table of Contents
Contents
1.
About this Workbook ...................................................................................................................... 1
2.
Project Background ......................................................................................................................... 1
3.
Project Overview ............................................................................................................................. 2
3.1 Stage 1 2015 garlic season. .......................................................................................................... 3
3.2 Stage 2 2016 garlic season ........................................................................................................... 4
3.3 Potential Participants .................................................................................................................... 4
3.4 Project Budget............................................................................................................................... 4
3.5 What the project offers ................................................................................................................ 5
3.6 How you can contribute................................................................................................................ 6
4
Local varieties and groups of garlic................................................................................................. 6
5
How much can you grow?............................................................................................................... 7
5.1 Spacing the garlic .......................................................................................................................... 7
5.1.1 Estimating the spacing you propose to use ........................................................................... 8
5.2
Area to be planted .................................................................................................................. 8
5.2.1 Estimating the area to be planted ......................................................................................... 8
5.3
Quantity of seed needed ........................................................................................................ 8
5.3.1 A local estimate for white garlic – different spacings ............................................................ 8
5.3.2 A NSW estimate for purple garlic – different spacings .......................................................... 9
5.3.3 Estimating the quantity of seed needed .............................................................................. 10
5.4
Garlic seed availability and cost ............................................................................................ 10
5.4.1 White Soft Neck from Albury ............................................................................................... 10
5.4.2 Italian Purple Hardneck from Robinvale .............................................................................. 11
5.4.3 Purple Hardneck supplier 2 .................................................................................................. 12
5.4.4 Estimating the availability and cost of seed......................................................................... 13
6
Other costs .................................................................................................................................... 13
6.1 Site Preparation .......................................................................................................................... 13
6.2 Mulching and weeding ................................................................................................................ 13
6.3
Irrigation................................................................................................................................ 14
6.4
Harvesting ............................................................................................................................. 14
6.5
Storing and curing ................................................................................................................. 14
7. Garlic pests and diseases .................................................................................................................. 15
7.1 White Rot .................................................................................................................................... 15
9. Potential income ............................................................................................................................... 16
8. Biodiversity opportunities................................................................................................................. 16
9. Reflections from local growers ......................................................................................................... 17
Sign-on sheet ........................................................................................................................................ 21
List of Tables
Table 1 Project Budget submitted for funding ....................................................................................... 4
Table 2 Cloves needed for different spacings ......................................................................................... 8
Table 3: kg of garlic seed needed per m2 – locally grown white garlic estimate .................................... 9
Table 4 kg of garlic seed needed per m2 - Monaro Purple estimate ...................................................... 9
1. About this Workbook
This document is a work in progress of a guide book to assist participants in a project to “Grow the
Braidwood Garlic Growers”. Updated information will be available from time to time on the project
website at:
http://www.uppershoalhavenlandcare.com.au/44-2/growing-the-braidwood-garlic-growers/
The Workbook has been produced to:
Inform potential participants about the project including its background, overview, stages
and what it offers,
Guide potential participants in how they can be involved,
Helping with practical information about options, opportunities and issues in growing garlic.
Throughout the workbook you will be asked questions about how the information presented relates
to your own specific site. Questions are shown in boxes, in the following format.
When you see tables like this, write answers to the questions in
the green space provided on the right
Answers to highlighted questions will be transferred to the back
page of the workbook.
2. Project Background
The Growing the Braidwood Garlic Growers project is funded through the 25th Anniversary Landcare
Grant for $20,000
The Project activities need to commence before July 2015 and be completed by 30 June 2016
The Upper Shoalhaven Landcare Council has acted as sponsor for the Braidwood Garlic Growers
Group (a non-legal entity community group)
The Upper-Shoalhaven Landcare Council is an incorporated association of Landcare volunteers with
a mission to promote and support Landcare throughout the Upper-Shoalhaven and Upper-Deua
catchments. We recognise the diversity of people, land-use and landscapes in our local areas and
strive to provide an inclusive approach to all members of our local community. We work to help local
Landcare groups and individual landholders throughout the catchment to create and maintain
healthy and productive landscapes. We strive to build cooperative relations with other organisations
working within our region to provide beneficial outcomes for our members and the wider UpperShoalhaven community. We provide community representation and oversight on a diverse range of
issues.
The Braidwood Garlic Growers Group – Braid Garlic - Thanks to Giles Bonin (and Victoria) garlic has
become a crop of significant interest in the Braidwood area. With garlic being grown in just about
every vegie garden and small to larger scale production in the area on the increase. Braidwood has a
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long frost season and garlic as a crop manages and in fact appears to thrive on these hard
conditions. With the increasing demand for Australian grown garlic and the growing interest in local
food we need to ensure that Braidwood is recognised for it's garlic (as part of the South East cool
climate garlic growing region). This can only be done if we share information and learning; and
continue to encourage new growers. The Braidwood Garlic Growers Group is an informal network
of garlic growers in the Braidwood region. It exchanges information through a digital forum.
([email protected] - by invitation only) The group was formed in September 2012 after
a gathering of local garlic growers held at the Old Cheese Factory in Reidsdale.
Braidwood Garlic Growers Group Objectives:
To promote the growing of garlic in the Braidwood area.
To share information and continue to encourage new growers
To promote organic and sustainable land practices when growing garlic
To recognise that all farming practices need to take into account natural diversity and sound
management of natural resources
Broad Project (Landcare) Objectives
Communities are managing landscapes to sustain long-term economic and social benefits
from their environment.
Farmers and fishers are increasing their long term returns through better management of
the natural resource base.
Communities are involved in caring for their environment.
Communities are protecting species and natural assets.
3. Project Overview
Braidwood is the potential garlic capital of Australia. The soils, seasons and water availability all lend
themselves to excellent cold climate annual crops. We also have a highly altered natural
environment from intensive farming and mining through the 1800s and early 1900s. Little native
vegetation remains and waterways are stressed. Most farming now is broad acre.
The aim of the project is to demonstrate the potential for garlic, as a commercial crop, to enhance
economic resilience, agricultural profitability and sustainability in the Braidwood area. It will
establish field trials of different varieties and growing regimes, generate knowledge about diseasefree seed sources, and balance profitability with the protection of natural heritage.
The project will:
Support existing growers and encourage them to increase production
Support new growers to start production
Select 5 (new) demonstration plots of a minimum of 1 acre each. These sites will be selected
based on the likelihood of success (landholder commitment) and site diversity
Trial low soil disturbance, green manure cropping techniques (crimping).
Trial different mulching techniques and effectiveness.
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Trial and research cold climate varieties and their viability in the Braidwood area. This may
enable the Braidwood area to be one of the few mainland sites with an extended garlic
harvest season
Explore options for clean seed stock and strategies to minimise disease
Research other needs of garlic. This includes water needs at different times of the year and
available supplies. It also includes a review of climatic conditions including susceptibility of
local productivity to climate change
Explore cooperative approaches to planting, harvesting, and marketing, particularly tonnage
for wholesaler supply.
The grant funding will be used for the 2015 garlic season and through to the planting for the 2016
garlic season. However it is anticipated that the garlic project will continue beyond the specific grant
period.
3.1 Stage 1 2015 garlic season.
A major aspect of the 2015 garlic season will be to increase seed stock of the varieties primarily
growing in the area:
Monaro purple, Italian purple, (It appears that both hard neck and soft neck varieties are
being grown);
White soft neck or Australian white; White hard neck;
Rocambole and what appears to be various localised versions of the above.
Strategies for increasing seed stock
Those with existing seed stock to plant will be encouraged to use and /or sell most of their
2015 garlic harvest as seed stock
Purchase of new seed stock, for 2015 planting with the view of primarily using and /or selling
most of the 2015 garlic harvest as seed stock
Explore the availability of other cool season varieties grown in Tasmania with the aim of
obtaining seed stock for trialling in the 2016 season
Explore the process of importing cool season varieties for trialling in the 2016 season
Throughout the 2015 garlic season
strategies to minimise disease, basic biosecurity techniques particularly regarding shared
implements
Research other needs of garlic. This includes water needs at different times of the year and
available supplies. Irrigation techniques. It also includes a review of climatic conditions
including susceptibility of local productivity to climate change
Explore cooperative approaches to planting, harvesting, drying, curing and marketing
particularly tonnage for wholesaler supply
Trial different mulching techniques and effectiveness. (and other organic weed management
techniques ) Hay mulch, straw mulch, weed mat, Flame weeding, hand tools for weeding,
products that bleach weeds of chlorophyll etc
Explore low soil disturbance, green manure cropping techniques (crimping).
Pre Order seed for 2016 planting season
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We anticipate the 2015 season being essentially a practice and prepare exercise which also provides
us with seed garlic in the region, for the 2016 season.
3.2 Stage 2 2016 garlic season
The two main goals of the 2016 season will be to plant acreage of garlic, and also to trial new cool
climate varieties.
Most of the seed for large plantings will hopefully have been produced from project participants
during the 2015 season.
Many promising cool climate varieties are not yet available as seed stock for local plantings. There is
considerable national interest in bringing some new varieties into the Australian market. Some
Australian growers are already using seed stock that they have imported from overseas, but this is
not available for sale. A key project opportunity would be to source new varieties from overseas,
and to trial that stock in the local region.
3.3 Potential Participants
The project targets include total plantings of 2 hectares. We anticipate that these plantings will be
achieved by a range of growers. One way that these quantities could be achieved is through the
following plots.
3 x existing growers
5 x new 1 acre plots
7 x new smaller plots Including Braidwood Village growers
The project is not limited to these numbers and sizes and we would encourage anyone to be
involved. One of the opportunities of our two-season project is that people can have a go at growing
garlic during 2015, test out new methods, ideas and seed stock, and then decide if they want to
become more heavily involved, or grow a larger crop in 2016.
3.4 Project Budget
At the time of writing this draft, we have not yet received a contract from the government. The
budget which we submitted with the successful application is shown in Table 1. This shows that
project finance is available to assist with activities such as buying seed garlic, specialist input, soil
testing and more.
Table 1 Project Budget submitted for funding
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Some points to note about the budget are:
Money can be swapped between line items, but if the changes are greater than 10% we will
need government approval. There has already been a suggestion that we might reduce
project funding for fencing, and target that to buying more seed garlic.
To gain the funding we proposed to provide ‘in kind’ contributions that more than match the
project funding. To receive an share of the project’s financial benefits, participants will need
to make practical contributions and keep careful records of the time and other resources
they put in.
Project funds are limited, and potential calls on them large and specifics have not yet been
determined. For instance, our current thinking is that participants will buy their own seed
garlic in 2015, and that project funds for seed garlic will be used to buy seed garlic of new
varieties from international sources. Recipients of this seed would be selected based on
their 2015 season contributions, including the success of their crop, and their capacity to
expand in 2016.
3.5 What the project offers
1
2
3
The project will provide many resources, including funding towards fencing, seed garlic, soil
tests, expert advice, wholesale marketing. Each of these project contributions will be matched
by an approximately equal in-kind contribution from participants.
If successful, the project will result in some income to project participants. A portion of this
income will be reinvested back into the project, to help fund ongoing regional support for garlic
growing.
Biodiversity assessments at sites including bird surveys and review of native plant species and
non-native species supporting native animals at the start and end of the project to identify the
current situation, propose ideal plantings to maximize biodiversity outcomes and assess any
changes from the project. This will take place over the course of the project and will also
include some village locations.
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4
Purchase and plant native species at plots to support biodiversity outcomes. This activity
includes stakes, guards and fencing where necessary.
5 Soil tests start and end.
6 Expert agronomist site visits to identify any apparent garlic diseases and suggest potential
disease control strategies.
7 Research garlic diseases, options for clean seed stock and strategies to minimise disease, with a
particular emphasis on white rot.
8 Research other needs of garlic and the capacity of different plots to achieve good results. This
includes water needs at different times of the year and available supplies. It also includes a
review of climatic conditions including susceptibility of local productivity to climate change.
9 Active communication via on-site meetings, news articles and web publishing project findings
10 Trial low soil disturbance green manure cropping techniques (crimping). Trial different mulching
techniques and effectiveness.
11 Trial and research cold climate varieties and their viability in the Braidwood area. This can
enable the Braidwood area to be one of the few mainland sites with an extended garlic harvest
season. Start process or importing varieties and hopefully commence trials next year.
12 Look at formal classification of the varieties that are currently grown in the region.
3.6 How you can contribute
1. Participants will need to be responsible for the site-specific decision making, including how
and when to prepare the site, weed management regimes, doing the weeding, fencing etc.
2. Good record keeping as specified by the project will be required.
4 Local varieties and groups of garlic
See the following website for a wealth of information about garlic types:
http://www.australiangarlic.net.au/
The main types of garlic currently being grown around Braidwood are as follows.
Monaro purple: It appears that both hard neck and soft neck types are being grown. This is an
Australian variety. Officially Monaro Purple is in the Turban Group and is a hard neck variety (weekly
bolting) Typically when first harvested the skin is red/pink with strong blotching. After curing skins
are pale mauve with strong purple striping or blotching and the clove skins are pink and cream with
pale pink stripes.
Italian purple: It appears that both hard neck and soft neck types are being grown
Officially Italian purple is in the Turban group and is a hard neck variety (weakly bolting
It typically has purple striped or blotched skins and the clove skins are pink and cream with pale pink
stripes
White soft neck: This is in the Artichoke group and is a soft neck variety (non bolting) This is an
Australian variety developed in South Australia. It typically has white skins (sometimes with purple
blotches) and the clove is tan to pale pink to white
There is also White Soft neck that is in the Silverskin group. These typically have white skins with
pink to red gloves; and Germidore in the Artichoke group with white skins and cloves can have a
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little purple striping on dark tan and sometimes light tan or slight purple blotching at tops on creamy
tan.
White hard neck: Proper name White Crookneck. This is in the Turban group (hard neck weekly
bolting) It typically has white skins (brilliant white when first dug) and clove skins are creamy white
to light tan and sometimes very pale pink
Rocamboles –True rocamboles are not well represented in Australia. These typically have off white
skins with occasional purple/red blotching or streaks and the bulbs are Bronze/purple/red. Many
cultivars that have Rocambole in their name are actually in the Creole or Turban Groups. Many
Turban cultivars have been misnamed or perhaps misidentified as Rocambole
All other groups are hardnecks, divided into strongly bolting and weakly bolting varieties.
One of the tasks for the project could be to accurately identify the types of garlic being grown in
Braidwood.
5 How much can you grow?
“Correctly spaced, an acre will produce between 3.62 and 4.5 ton of garlic (having planted 700 –
800kg of cloves)” Garlic World: http://garlicworld.com.au/recipes/ .
As a general rule: weight of cloves x 6 = average weight of harvest. Or, in small plots, simply,
1 clove = one bulb.
How big is my growing area? (Width of crop) x (length of crop) = crop in square metres. 1
meter squared = 0.000247105381 acres
There are a range of limiting factors which will determine how much garlic you can grow in the 2015
and 2016 years. They are discussed in the sections below. Space has been included to help you work
out how much garlic you may grow, and what resources you would need for this.
Note that you should assume that all of the costs of obtaining seed and growing your garlic will be
covered by you during the 2015 season, so make decisions on that basis.
5.1 Spacing the garlic
Dense growing of garlic is feasible, and is highly beneficial as it minimises the amount of mulch
and weeding required to produce the crop.
The following spacings are being used by local growers:
Space between cloves: 10-12cm
Space between rows: 20cm or wider.
Table 2 indicates how many cloves of garlic are required per m2, for different spacing options.
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Table 2 Cloves needed for different spacings
Blue cells show the number of cloves
per m2, given the stated spacing
Space between
20cm
rows
30cm
40cm
10cm
Space between cloves
12cm
50
42
30
25
20
17
15cm
33
20
13
5.1.1 Estimating the spacing you propose to use
What spacing do you propose to use?
Width:
By
Length:
cm
cm
2
How many cloves of garlic will you need per m ? (from the table)
5.2 Area to be planted
Remembering that the project is not proposing to provide money for fencing in 2015, or for site
preparation, mulching etc, what area will you be able to prepare and manage for the current
growing season?
5.2.1 Estimating the area to be planted
What is the length of the area you propose to plant in?
m
What is the width of the area you propose to plant in?
m
m2
1) What is the total are of your proposed crop in 2015 (length
x width)
What is that in acres? (m2 of area x 0.000247105381)
What is that in hectares? (m2 x 0.0001)
Acres
Hectares
2) What area would you consider planting in 2016?
m2
5.3 Quantity of seed needed
A rule of thumb for dense planting is to expect to use 700-800kg of garlic for an acre plot. Since
there are 4046m2 in an acre, this is roughly 170 – 180g of seed garlic per m2.
5.3.1 A local estimate for white garlic – different spacings
A local grower has done the following test of his white garlic: “they yielded somewhere between 6
to 8 cloves per bulb (average of 7 cloves per bulb) & the whole bulb weighed around 50 grams. For a
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medium size clove weight was around 6 grams. I was curious as to how many actual bulbs one would
need to plant a hectare – 1400 would be enough @ 33,000 cloves/hectare. ”
For the sake of estimation, we assume that a clove weighs about 6 grams. This means that the
weight of seeds needed per m2 from Table are as per Table 3. Note that these widths are most useful
for hand planting, and the row widths in particular may be wider if using a tractor.
2
Table 3: kg of garlic seed needed per m – locally grown white garlic estimate
Blue cells show kg of garlic seed
needed per m2, for each spacing
Space between
20cm
rows
30cm
40cm
10cm
Space between cloves
12cm
0.30
0.25
0.18
0.15
0.12
0.10
15cm
0.20
0.12
0.08
5.3.2 A NSW estimate for purple garlic – different spacings
The following information is available on-line: Garlic 'Monaro Purple'
Organically certified
From : http://greenharvest.com.au/Plants/GarlicToKrachai.html
Allium sativum Turban Group
Not to Norfolk Island, SA, TAS or WA
Garlic 'Monaro Purple' is a hardneck or top-setting garlic variety which usually produces a flower stem
in early summer. It is also called a 'rocambole' variety from the habit the flower stem has of looping
over on itself to produce a distinctive twist. Worth buying just for cooking, this organic garlic has a
sweet, nutty flavour. Monaro Purple is mainly suitable for cooler areas. Each bulb weighs
approximately 42g; there is an average of 7 planting pieces (large cloves) per bulb; with an average of
23 bulbs per kg
Using these figures, the kg of garlic needed to plant at different spacings is in Table 4.
2
Table 4 kg of garlic seed needed per m - Monaro Purple estimate
Blue cells show kg of garlic seed
needed per m2, for each spacing
Space between
20cm
rows
30cm
40cm
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Space between cloves
10cm
12cm
0.17
0.14
0.10
0.09
0.07
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15cm
0.11
0.07
0.05
9
5.3.3 Estimating the quantity of seed needed
Given these estimates, what weight of garlic would you need for
your plot? (kg of garlic x m2)
kg
3) How much seed garlic do you have already?
kg
4) What type of garlic do you have already?
5) How much would you need to buy, with project assistance?
kg
Given the other estimates you are seeing, does that quantity seem right? If not, discuss and
recalculate.
5.4 Garlic seed availability and cost
We have been able to source some excellent garlic seed at good prices and at relatively low cost.
Here are the details.
5.4.1 White Soft Neck from Albury
Nice large cloves, and at least 2000kg available. $12 per kilo.
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Photos by Glen from Albury.
5.4.2 Italian Purple Hardneck from Robinvale
Seed stock available originated from the seed stock the supplier’s parents have grown since arriving
in Australia. The supplier has been growing a large quantity for 12 years. He is selling for $10 per kg
and has tonnes available.
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Photos by Joe Robinvale
5.4.3 Purple Hardneck supplier 2
This grower sourced his seed stock from the above supplier at Robinvale, and has been growing for 2
years. This supplier is selling for $6 per kg and has tonnes available.
Photo by Harry Panna
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5.4.4 Estimating the availability and cost of seed
6) What type of seed garlic (if any) would you like to buy with
project assistance?
How much would it cost to buy the garlic that you want? (kg x
cost per kg)
$
6 Other costs
It is important to note that there are alternative approaches to each of the following options. Most
of the options below are for growers who are doing a lot of the work by hand. For instance, we talk
about mulching, but you can see from the photographs above, that not all sites use mulch.
There are also a number of low-cost implements which can be purchased, and also implements
made on the farm that can make these labour intensive processes easier. These can be particularly
low-cost if you already have access to a tractor.
6.1 Site Preparation
Site preparation is critical, because garlic cannot be grown in rock-hard, or unprepared soil.
There are various options for site preparation. We expect that most of the potential growers already
have equipment and ideas for site preparation. The project does have a budget for soil testing, and
this could potentially be used during the 2015 season with good effect. We know from experienced
local growers that there are soil deficiencies, and targeted additions of selected fertilisers will help
to ensure a good crop.
6.2 Mulching and weeding
Mulch is highly recommended as it can be used as an effective weed management system, and will
also protect the soil from erosion and other problems. Mulch carries risk such as introduction of new
weed varieties. Mulch is also expensive. For instance, if a bale of straw may covers 3m2 and costs
about $9 per bale, then the cost of mulching an acre would not be affordable, at:
4046 x $9 / 3 = $12,138.
We know of several existing and potential local supply options with better prices, and potentially
better products than are available through retail supply.
The cost of mulch is specifically why it makes so much sense to plant garlic as densely as possible.
Buying in bulk, including in partnership with other growers can reduce the cost per unit of mulch
considerably, and we need to strongly consider working together to source good, cheap, clean mulch
from bulk suppliers. Weed mat is an option for mulching, and this can be bought in bulk as well.
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The Kindrachuks have provided an excellent tip for growing garlic with mulch. That is to plant the
garlic with a tip showing through the soil, and then to mulch thickly. The garlic will grow up through
the mulch. Being planted this high up makes harvesting relatively easy, as the garlic comes up well.
Through the project, we hope to test alternative techniques. One example is as crimping technology.
This can be used to fold green manure over, thus inhibiting its growth, but leaving the plant in the
soil as green manure to become mulch. However we cannot guarantee that this will be available for
the 2015 season, and it is best to assume that you will need to decide on your best option for
mulching.
7) Do you want assistance sourcing mulch?
Y/N
8) What type of mulch do you want to use?
9) Approximately what quantity of mulch do you want?
6.3
Irrigation
Setting up irrigation systems is costly. A drip irrigation system for an intensive acre of garlic may cost
$4,000. Other options could be cheaper, but may not be sufficient if water is a limiting factor.
A cost effective mechanical option for harvesting is to use a carrot harvester
6.4
Harvesting
Harvest will be in November/December. There is a possibility that the project could provide
sponsorship from companies with harvesting equipment. However we cannot guarantee this, not
that the row spacings will suit your planting. It is important to factor both the (pre-christmas) timing
and the work effort of harvesting into your decision making. See the story from Gilles below for
some insights about this element of the process.
6.5
Storing and curing
Garlic will go mouldy if it is stacked tightly together when harvested. A degree of cleaning up is also
needed, including soil removal, root cutting, and eventually, removal of the stalk (unless plaiting).
Garlic will need to be stored in aerated areas (such as is shown on the cover of the workbook).
Consider whether you have space available to dry the garlic. This includes a covered shed, and also
racks that can hold the garlic to get an air flow around it.
Project leaders can investigate options for garlic storage in some sheds around the area if this is a
limiting factor. Please consider your options and let us know if this is an issue for you.
10) Do you need assistance arranging space for curing and
storing?
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7. Garlic pests and diseases
A number of garlic pests and diseases affect Australian garlic. Check out the AGIA fact sheets on rust,
midew, thrip, spraying and biosecurity at: http://www.garlicaustralia.asn.au//quick-facts
Prevention is the best option for preventing damage from these, and getting clean seed is important.
7.1 White Rot
The most problematic disease of the garlic industry is white rot (Sclerotium cepivorum). This fungal
disease strikes all allium crops, including onions and garlic. The leaves of white-rot-infected garlic
plants yellow, die back partially and wilt. The roots also rot, allowing infested plants to be uprooted
easily. In the soil, a white fungal mycelium develops and then produces a number of round black
sclerotia, the size of pinheads. It is typical to see the development of white rot from mid-season to
harvest.
White rot sclerotia can lie dormant in soil for 20 to 40 years, waiting to detect the scent of a growing
allium root to break their dormancy. These sclerotia are not wind or water borne, but are most
frequently relocated by farmers moving onions, garlic or contaminated soil or tools.
Small growers can avoid major trouble and keep the white rot under control by constantly looking
out for and pulling any diseased plants that appear in their fields. Disease garlic plants have wilted
and will usually be in sporatic groups of a few plants.
“Very careful inspection in the early stages of infestation is an effective control practice, but it will
likely need to be sustained forever,” explains Crowe. “Once populations have built to moderate or
higher levels, white rot is nearly impossible to control.”
Of course, strict sanitation and using disease-free planting material is also key. Some growers further
combat white rot by applying garlic-scented materials to the unplanted fields. These odiferous
treatments cause dormant sclerotia to emerge and then die when they find no plants to infect, but
this treatment only works on fields that have not had an allium crop planted on them for at least six
months. Crowe recommends using a mix made from the juice of 10 pungent onions for every 50
gallons of soil drench (a pesticide treatment), and encourages two or three applications before the
field is replanted to garlic or other alliums again.
About the Author: Rick Gush is an American small farmer based in Italy.
http://www.hobbyfarms.com/crops-and-gardening/3-problems-that-could-ruin-garlic-crop.aspx
Here is the abstract from a paper comparing the physical, chemical and biological methods of
controlling garlic white rot.
“Treatment of garlic cloves with tebuconazole (at 1 ml of Folicur 25% l−1) achieved a significant
reduction in the rate of disease progress and the final incidence of plant death by Sclerotium
cepivorum: garlic yields were improved. Although soil solarization provided the best control of garlic
white rot, bringing soil populations of S. cepivorum to negligible levels, similar levels of disease
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control and garlic yields were achieved when tebuconazole was sprayed to stem bases of plants
grown from cloves also treated with tebuconazole. This double treatment almost doubled the yield
compared with untreated plants and significantly increased bulb quality under high disease pressure
conditions. Soil solarization was also highly effective in a second consecutive crop of garlic, with
significant improvements in yield and garlic quality. In contrast, lower levels of disease control were
obtained when selected isolates of Trichoderma harzianum and Bacillus subtilis were applied to the
soil and cloves respectively.”
See the full article at: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1008777706814#page-1
9. Potential income
“Correctly spaced, an acre will produce between 3.62 and 4.5 ton of garlic (having planted 700 –
800kg of cloves)” Garlic World: http://garlicworld.com.au/recipes/ .
The wholesale prices that can be earned from garlic vary significantly, and currently range from $5
per kg to $35 per kg. Wholesale markets are available for growers with lots over a tonne. One of the
benefits of us working together is the potential to produce in bulk for wholesale markets.
Prices at the high end c an be achieved if the garlic is good looking, not cracking, clean and uniformly
graded. The better the quality, the higher the prices we can expect to achieve.
The project will be aiming to grow mostly seed garlic during the 2015 season. This garlic would be
used to expand the project and local production during 2016. Because we will be growing a lot for
seed, participants shouldn’t expect to make much money this year. But assuming that we get about
6 times as much garlic as we plant, then there should be a return, even during the 2015 season. This
will vary depending on how much of the crop participants choose to retain or to sell, as well as the
quality of the crop.
It is feasible that participants will buy from one another, particularly as some of us gear up for 1 acre
plots during 2016.
Note that participants who receive financial investments from the project should anticipate
providing a portion of their takings back into the Braidwood Garlic Growers Group to support longterm collective benefits from garlic growing.
11) Given my other estimates, how much garlic could I possibly
be growing to sell in 2015?
kg
8. Biodiversity opportunities
Because garlic is high-value per hectare of crop, there are good opportunities to enhance the
biodiversity around the sites. This could also be beneficial for the garlic, as native vegetation can be
used as wind breaks. Small birds can also be useful in keeping down insect and other pests.
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Think about what biodiversity values may be around the garlic plot you want to grow. Have you had
this area assessed for its biodiversity value? Are you confident that the existing vegetation is not an
endangered or protected area? This may be the case for instance, if there are grassy woodlands with
snowgums or box gums nearby.
12) Is there a chance that your intended area has ecologically
significant values?
(Y/N)
(Y/N)
13) Do you see opportunities to plant areas around your garlic
plot with native species?
14) Would you be interested in a biodiversity assessment at
your site? (Y/N)
(Y/N)
9. Reflections from local growers
The following are notes from Gilles Bonin and Victoria Clutterbuck, some successful local growers.
Victoria: We started with no money and no idea, just a couple of hippies trying to find something
that we could grow and sell. Our place is in the Southern Highlands, out of Braidwood, half way
between Canberra and the Coast. Cold, liable to unseasonable frosts, we could grow garlic, we just
grew it for ourselves and one year a friend came and she had a garlic plait she had bought
somewhere and we thought we could do that. My father always used to plait his onions, from his
vegie garden. In our first year we made 30 plaits using the garlic that we had, a white softneck, and
our 30 plaits sold to a local craft shop. The next year we produced 100 plaits.
We got A grade organic certification just like that, it was a lot easier in those days. The plaits were
sold to an organic wholesaler in Sydney, and the year after that we discovered farmers markets and
it just went from there. We just concentrated on garlic. It is Gilles job and I assist him. Our son lives
locally and he helps, and one of his ex girlfriends. We’ve also had WWOOFers in the past two years.
We are no long certified, we found it really wasn’t much use to us, our customers knew us. We just
tell people our produce is biologically grown, pesticide and chemical free. This is to show you that it
is a small farm, ancient tractor, here is the garlic that has been cracked. We have a garlic cracking
machine that was adapted from a chicken plucking machine. Our son prefers not to use it and he is
the one who does most of the cracking now. Once the garlic is all separated, then the next bit of high
tech machinery is a fan, just to blow away some of the skin, we use old steel bed frames that have
been welded and adapted.
These are the garlic scapes, which is the central stalk of the red hardneck garlic that we also have
now, which we know as Steve’s garlic because Steve gave us one head and from that we grew. Its
Gilles preferred garlic now. These scapes, as soon as they start showing which is just towards the
beginning of November and a local produce producer buys quite a lot of them and pickles them and
we take quite a lot to one of the farmers markets that we go to in Sydney, and people love them.
And because Australian people are generally willing to try new things, we sell a lot now and they are
very good in stir fries and also just cooked like asparagus. But you have to get them when they are
nice and soft. We pull them rather than cutting them and if you are lucky and pull gently the whole
thing will come in one go. We charge $3 per dozen. At the same market in November that we sell
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the scapes, we sell fresh garlic which we encourage people to not keep but to enjoy as a once a year
only opportunity fresh something that they will never find in the shop because it doesn’t travel. And
that is another very popular thing, plus it gives us the opportunity to say that by next month we will
have garlic for you to keep. So it gets the market going. Gilles cuts the roots off completely, he
doesn’t snip them off, he cuts them right off. The advantage of the purple garlic is that it is relatively
flat across the bottom, the white garlic is very much more difficult to cut the roots off without
damaging the garlic. But we find that it keeps better that way. Lately we’ve been having to explain to
customers that it is Australian Garlic, that we did grow it ourselves because the idea has got out into
the community that if it has all its roots cut off then it is imported. I don’t know where that came
from. Gilles cuts the roots off first and then we peel the skins off to make it clean. Wet Straight out
of the paddock, into the sheds, cut the roots off and peel the garlic. The white garlic particularly
doesn’t clean well once its dry. The red garlic we clean for the couple of markets before Christmas
but the after Christmas we can just rub the skins off.
We generally have three sizes of plaits. Very small ones that we can sell, we try to get rid of those
before Christmas as presents. We say fabulous Christmas gifts, a little $20 stocking filler. Then we
have medium sized one and a large size one and occasionally jumbo sized ones, people are prepared
to pay $100 for a large sized plait.
Gilles: Two thirds of our garlic is sold before Christmas, so first there is the harvest, then cleaning
and plaiting. So it is very busy.
The business is mine but Victoria is there for every step of the process. My son helps with planting
and harvesting. It all starts the autumn before, when I start new ground I get my soil analysed
because I grow on very very poor sandy soils, not very many nutrients so most of it has to be
brought in. I do it with compost and putting the minerals. So I plough the ground and then let the
weeds grow or just put in some clover and grasses, which will grow over autumn, winter and spring,
and just before it goes to seed I will plough that in and put millet green manure crop because it
grows well and we get a huge amount of material and there is even time for another manure crop,
so there would be two manure crops before the planting happens. The planting happens in March or
April, even mid April. And I might just put a few more in later on. We crack it, we can use the
machine, but the red breaks really easy so it is not a problem, but the white garlic usually we break
with a breaking machine. I plant roughly 50,000 garlic and out of that more than 40,000 would be
red and the rest would be white. It used to be the other way, but I find the red garlic easier to grow
and more regular in growth and the people like it better, the colour is better, the flavour doesn’t
have the strength of the white garlic but there is more taste.
Planting, we break it and plant it, all in the same day. Break in the morning and plant in the
afternoon. One person should be able to do 3,000 in a day, so not quite as fast as the Brazilians but I
am happy with that. It will take us maybe a couple of weeks because everything is done on the day,
mulching, watering finished. The weeds, most years it is fine, I just have to do a bit of weeding in
spring time or late autumn if I’ve done the mulching properly. This year I didn’t mulch very well, I got
some hay which was not as good. If you do the mulch well you don’t have to worry too much about
the weeding. You have to be ready for the setbacks though. There are always things that can crop
up.
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So winter is pretty good, you do the occasional watering and occasional weeding. I can go on
holidays for a couple of months in winter, I just shut the gate and when I come back the garlic is just
growing. Because winters are fairly harsh we do have some rain, so for maybe three months of the
year there is no need for watering. Wouldn’t even need to water except that my soil is so sandy that
the rainfall just goes straight through. So in spring time if it is not raining like now, I will give it
another watering. You do have to water if you don’t have good soil and don’t get the rainfall. Not
much work until harvest. We do the market on the first Saturday of October and for that we sell
green garlic. And some garlic leeks. I do also sell a little to a reseller and he says he can’t sell much of
that. Only a small market. November market we get the scapes. We sell a little bit at the market,
there is a very nice market for scapes but a very short season. They musn’t be too old when you pick
them and the season only lasts for a couple of weeks, but luckily for me it coincides with the market.
We also take garlic that is not quite ready. The bulbs are not full sized but I still get some 6cm sized
bulbs. The garlic looks beautiful. The purple garlic when it is fresh is just perfect. So we make quite
good business from that. The harvesting is all done by hand, I pull it, bring it in, cut the roots off and
peel. There is no time for drying and then cleaning. If I see some rain coming then I will harvest for a
couple of days, because it is better not to harvest the bulbs wet, they are slimy and the dirt will stick
to them. So I have red garlic from mid november taking 12 days just to do it. If you pull the scapes
off the crop lasts longer in the ground, you get a bigger window of harvesting. When I first started I
used to measure my bulbs and check the growth and I did notice that if you remove the scape you
get better growth. Its a bit of an operation but you get better growth from the bulb.
We will be busy up to Christmas. The white garlic will be harvested about the 5th of December, but
we have to plait for the market. The two markets before Christmas are huge, we have to do a lot of
plaiting. We now plait on the dining room table.
After the markets we clean up and do a little plaiting for a couple of shops. And by Christmas it is all
finished. I still have a little bit of garlic but you don’t sell as much after Christmas. Before Christmas I
will put in green manure, I like to replant in the same soil because I have already built up fertility in
the soil. Green manure will take 10 weeks to grow, then it is ready to plough it in and wait a couple
of weeks and plant again.
As we found more outlets we grew more garlic, not the other way around.
More and more people are growing garlic, so I think the price will go down soon. We still get good
prices at the market.
When we got to a comfortable level we stopped growing. There was no need to buy machinery. I
plant the garlic very shallow, almost on the surface, can still see the garlic. Then mulch on top.
The spring garlic is so delicious. People are asking for them. Trimming the roots so close, you do that
for the preservation of the bulb. Is that the only reason? You can leave the root, but it was just
started it that way. A friend does it with secateurs and we like the look of it. If you don’t cut the
roots you will get rot in your bulb. whether you cut them right out or just trim. It doesn’t really
matter too much. From overseas, if you want to sell in Australia you have to cut the roots right out.
We found in the restaurant trade that if there was no root they didn’t want it.
We are at 650 metres, rainfall at 800 we get nearly all year round.
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Mulch, use my own grass that I harvest, sort of depends, up to 15cm. It is a sedge, whatever is
growing in the paddock. Have used hay recently, means breaking it and maybe putting on a bit
thicker.
Select cloves for replanting when harvest.
I leave my seed garlic for the full time, cut the roots but otherwise leave whole.
Just under 10% of the crop is kept for replanting. Keep the big cloves.
Don’t plant out smaller cloves, don’t want to waste my time. I did in the early years. We do sell the
small ones in the small plaits.
Area planted: 1200 square metres, it is very densely grown, it works well. Yield, 3 tonnes in good
year. If its a small year I will finish markets in March, in bigger year will finish in May. The white
variety keeps better, we say its best before September, but we have customers who have just
finished theirs in December when they turn up to buy more. They buy lots. The purple one we say to
finish before May. I started selling online this year, and I will see what happens. Just small change
and to be ready for a change in the market. Need to think ahead and how it is changing and be
flexible.
http://gillesaustraliangarlic.com.au/
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Sign-on sheet – please complete and send to [email protected]
Yes, please consider me as a participant in the project to Grow the Braidwood Garlic Growers.
Name __________________________________________________________________________
Phone __________________________________________________________________________
Email ___________________________________________________________________________
Complete the following using the highlighted answers in the workbook above.
m2
m2
kg
1) Total are of proposed crop in 2015 (length x width)
2) Area considered for planting in 2016
3) Amount of garlic seed already available
4) Type of garlic already available
5) Amount of garlic needed to buy with project assistance
kg
6) Type of seed garlic wanted to buy with project assistance
7) Assistance wanted in sourcing mulch.
Y/N
8) Preferred type of mulch.
9) Approximate quantity of mulch.
10) Space needed for curing and storing?
11) Given my other estimates, possible quantity to be grown to sell in
2015?
12) Area may have ecologically significant values
13) Opportunities to plant areas around garlic plot with native species.
14) Interested in a biodiversity assessment.
Y/N
kg
(Y/N)
(Y/N)
(Y/N)
Other comments __________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
Declaration
I wish to be involved in the project to grow the local garlic growers. I understand that in 2015 I may
need to cover the full costs of my participation. I also understand that no guarantee is being made
for project finances to be spent on my property, or to assist my contribution. I agree to buying garlic
seed, mulch and other bulk purchases that are arranged at my request by the project. I will assist by
providing information about my garlic growing experience, as reasonably requested for the project,
which may include details and photographs of garlic crop decisions and outcomes.
Signature ____________________________________ Date ______________________________
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