Down in the garlic patch
RICHARD Bennett is a very busy man. When he’s not growing and selling his award-winning garlic, he’s also a forestry contractor and operations manager at Willunga Farmers’ Markets in South Australia.
Richard is someone I continually rediscover in multiple situations, including local government, Landcare, grower’s networks, farmers’ markets, my long- term association with the Willunga district and mutual friends in the music scene. We even did some of the same courses at Flinders University but were never in the same class.
Richard and wife Ingrid live in Willunga, but the garlic patch is on Richard’s parents’ property at Dingabledinga in the Mount Lofty Ranges, just over the first ridge above Willunga.
Richard grew up on the family dairy farm, which first came to my attention from agroforestry networks in the 1980s because his family had planted trees on the property for erosion control.
Fleurieu garlic
Richard then trained as a nurseryman and forest worker. Later I came to work with Richard in various projects funded by the Mount Lofty Ranges Catchment Program.
The trees also happened to be easily visible from the picturesque Brookman Road on my frequent trips between the central hills and Willunga, so I continued to observe their growth from the car and at field days.
More recently I encountered Richard as a stallholder at the Willunga Farmers’ Markets, where he sold only his own ‘Fleurieu garlic’ in season. The garlic gets its name from the Fleurieu Peninsula in South Australia, where it’s grown.
As operations manager for the market, Richard is the chief organiser and go- to person on the day, so he only has an occasional stall (run by his daughter).
On my most recent visit to the market, the 55 stalls and many hundreds of visitors kept Richard on the run, clearly leaving no time for selling.
The garlic bug
The garlic patch has been scaled down from 60,000 bulbs to about 8,000 bulbs in recent years. I suspect Richard now has ‘the garlic bug’ and will reliably be found with a significant patch. He is also working with Bull Creek certified organic grower, Richard Casley- Smith, to maintain supply and preserve cultivars.
The garlic patch was first planted by Richard’s dad in 2004. “At that time there was a media fracas about Chinese garlic imports and Australian- grown garlic was in big demand,” said Richard.
“I got interested in finding cultivars and bought a few different ones from Diggers and other nurseries, and I researched garlic online. I grew the garlic, mainly turban and white garlic cultivars at that stage, and was particularly looking for the right seasonal garlic. The hardneck turban is ready to harvest in November when it can still be wet and subject to rot. If I can harvest in mid to late-November, it is dry.”
Award-winning garlic
Richard does note that Dingabledinga means ‘water more water’. I knew this area as Hope Forest for most of my life, but Richard is pleased that it has returned to its aboriginal name, which was always the local name for the farm and immediate district.
The origin of the award-winning garlic is partly lost in history now. Richard thinks it came from a 2010 batch, that he has been growing since, and possibly sold as a ‘red bulb’ garlic. He now knows it must be a Spanish cultivar, very well suited to a dry, Mediterranean climate, and he calls it a ‘Creole’.
Richard says, “It just got better and better over four or five years and can produce 60-70ml bulbs, with great flavor, and long palate keeping up to 12 months.”
A joy to eat
It was certainly good enough to win gold in 2014 at the Inaugural Garlic Awards, bronze in the 2017 Australian Food Awards and gold in 2018, where it received 96.5 points and the Best in Class medal. The judges’ comments were, “Very attractive cloves. Good- sized bulbs. Sweet garlicky nose. Sweet savoury flavour with mild pepperiness. Long palate. Roasted - gorgeous nose - rich garlic scent. Sweet, complex and creamy. A joy to eat.”
Richard says the key to growing good garlic is good organic soil and constant moisture supply. He says some growers try to grow mainly on rainfall and they should apply irrigation to keep the bulb growing.
Richard uses a local, well-known small- scale compost supplier and makes his own compost, to make a loose raised bed soil. He says, “I lift the garlic to protect it, but the soil is so loose that I could just pull it from the ground.”
Raised beds, compost applications, drip irrigation and straw mulch help to maintain the high organic matter and maintain soil moisture.
Richard also supplements with some blood and bone fertilizer, Rapid Raiser (pelletised chicken manure) and Seamungus (fish, seaweed, manure fertiliser with humates).
He describes garlic as an “adventitious feeder” but not a “gross feeder”, warning that too much nitrogen and late applications of nitrogen will produce “strappy plants with a typical blue colour.”
Planting and harvesting
“I guess the usual planting and harvesting rules in southern Australia are around Anzac Day for planting and around Remembrance Day for harvesting, but that can depend a bit on the season and whether you have to wait for the autumn break or can irrigate,” Richard explained.
“Garlic is a very simple plant. It is just made up of leaves, each with a different function. Even the basal plate at the bottom is a modified leaf. It does need some weed control because it does not compete well but, with enough organic matter and straw mulch, weeding is easy.”
Like me, Richard likes to do hand-weeding, and carry larger weeds off to the compost, but he may also use a Homi (a Korean curved hoe).
“I don’t really do any pest or disease control other than looking after the soil, and basic management such as not overwatering and open space planting. They are probably here, but I don’t see damage from onion thrip or allium mite. I do get a bit of rust.”
Yes, I did a taste test and the garlic is excellent. In fact, just thinking about it makes me want to slip off and cook something as I still have a few bulbs left. I’ll be on the lookout for Fleurieu garlic at the next Willunga market; I can get there every few months. I’ll be looking out for Richard Bennett, too. He is sure to pop up again in another context.