A new group in Braidwood is aiming to help small garlic growers get off the ground.
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The Braidwood Garlic Growers Co-operative Working Group will soon hold a formation meeting, to register itself officially as a Co-Operative.
The group aims to give small-scale growers the benefit of a larger organisation, through education and purchasing power.
It began as garlic growers in the region started to field requests from those wishing to grow garlic, says Bronwyn Richards of Wynlen House Urban Micro Farm. As a crop that did well in cold climates, growers saw the region as a potential hothouse for the crop.
A 2014 Landcare grant gave financial support that helped establish new growers.
Now the group wants to formally establish itself, to further the gains achieved.
“It was clear that working together as small growers, there were benefits for us to do that,” Ms Richards said.
Funding from ‘Farming Together’ an Australian Federal Government initiative will help the group establishe itself and develop an operational plan.
Ms Richards sees the strength of garlic as a crop in its capacity to be grown at a small scale, often as a side product from a farm’s main produce
The aim for Braidwood is to eventually be a key growing area for some of these later varieties of garlic that like our cold climate, and can go onto the market when other garlic’s available.
- Bronwyn Richards
“The aim for Braidwood is to eventually be a key growing area for some of these later varieties of garlic that like our cold climate, and can go onto the market when other garlic’s available," says Ms Richards.
“As an industry Australia imports something like 20 million tons of garlic, because we actually don’t grow enough, and most of our garlic is grown and sold in what’s called the narrow window.”
The ability to trade on Braidwood’ established reputation for excellence in garlic is one strength of the Co-Operative, says Ms Richard, who encouraged those interested to attend the meeting.
- All garlic growers are invited to attend the meeting on Sunday October 29 from 4-6pm in the Old Library Building, Park Lane. For more information contact Georgina Byrnes at tally_ho@activ8.net.au