There's no denying it. We're growing garlic here because Graeme Ayton first suggested it. He says he's a retired farmer ( not very retired to me ) and visits Elmswood often. Our after dinner conversations always seemed to end up discussing garlic. Eventually I said. "Let's give it a go and grow some."

We knew we had the ideal climate and soil type for producing top quality natural garlic. And the long standing Lucerne paddock in front of the house had just the right nutritional history for the job.

Garlic does best when it's grown through a cold winter and finished off in warm weather. A typical temperate crop. It relies on clear seasonal messages to move from its dormant, growing, and then onto its reproduction stage. As long as there's moist soil, good drainage and nutrition it will do very well through a cold winter. To create the perfect bulb of garlic, a slow, steady, natural pace is needed. It just should not be artificially pushed along by being grown in warmer climates, or with chemical additives and artificial fertilizers.

So in 2007, under the guidance of Graeme, we grew our first small garlic crop using Graeme's bulbs. It was such a success we planted more.