writer + photographer | Anthony Georgeff
Mike and Kerry Thompson are grow garlic on a hundred State-forest-wrapped acres of land between Bridgetown and Boyup Brook.
“To get your garlic flavour, you need to use less of a good garlic than you do of a cheap garlic. You get what you pay for. We’re also organic so people know there have been no chemicals or sprays of any sort.
“What I’d look for is a solid bulb with papers on them, definitely nothing from overseas – number one, most of it is blanched and that’s why it looks all nice and white. They also put a growth inhibitor on it and then there’s the standard aqueous chemicals they have to put on them to make sure there’s no disease or fungi.
“The worst thing you can do to garlic is put it in a fridge because if you put it in a fridge it thinks it’s winter and starts growing. If you put it in a dark place it’ll think it’s in the ground ready to grow. Good garlic should keep until the beginning of the growth season; that is April, May. It’s only three or four months because it’ll just start to grow and you can’t stop it. If you do have garlic that’s starting to grow just take the little green shoot out – that’s what causes a bitter taste.
“[Garlic]‘s a bit like wine in a lot of ways – thirty years ago everybody drank plonk but now we’ve got a palate. Once you get the taste and understand the taste, it’s a whole different ball game. You realise what you’re missing out on.”
Garlic and Roses | garlic-n-roses.com.au
Issue 17 Summer 09
