FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Garlic
2009 season garlic is now SOLD OUT.
The new season 2010 GARLIC will be for sale from early December.
Please join our mailing list to be notified when it is ready to go.
Incoming orders will be dispatched weekly on Tuesdays from the start in December until sold out.
N.B.: Our focus is to grow premium quality, gourmet garlic for direct sale as food to home cooks and chefs. We are NOT commercial planting stock suppliers or set up as a 'nursery' (even though our garlic is 'fertile' and you can grow from it in your home garden if you wish). We do not wholesale or sell 'bulk priced' planting stock and are not a large enough farm for those sales approaches.
The online shop is open for direct sales during garlic season which runs approximately from late November until May/June approx. or earlier as soon as all our gorgeous gourmet garlic is sold out. Please note: only pre-payment secures an order. You can also buy garlic from us direct at our farmers’ market stalls and at our farm gate by calling us first.
N.B.: We DO NOT have credit card/EFT facilities outside of the Paypal facility within the online shop system (i.e. we personally can't process credit cards or EFT payments at all - only via the online shop using Paypal).
How is my garlic delivered and the delivery charged?
We use Australia Post, as we've found them the most reliable and cost effective shipping method for each order. Australia Post delivery charges are based on the volume and weight of your purchase as well as your delivery destination. Your delivery charge (including GST) is calculated and included once you've entered and checked your post code at the 'checkout' stage of your purchase.
How long will my garlic keep?
If kept dry and stored properly, your gorgeous gourmet garlic will keep perfectly, without sprouting until April or May, so about 5 months from its harvest in November.
From around April/May the garlic will start its natural sprouting process but will still taste great, so you can happily use it in your kitchen as it will still be fresher and superior in flavour to almost all other garlic available in the shops.
Why would I buy my year’s supply of garlic just after harvest?
Being an annual crop, even if you buy ‘fresh’ Australian garlic a bulb or two at a time, it is still from the same harvest back around November. That is, if you buy more garlic from us or elsewhere months down the track, it will be the same crop as the first (and only) harvest that season/year. Therefore it is perfectly practical to purchase new season garlic in bulk so long as you store it well. Most long-stored shop bought garlic has been cool stored, which rapidly diminishes its quality greatly and is why it has so often sprouted and is flavourless.
How best do I store my garlic?
Simply store in a dry, well ventilated location, away from direct sunlight and heat. Do NOT store it in the fridge as this will encourage your garlic to sprout prematurely and make it spongy and rapidly diminish its flavour.
How much garlic do I have to buy?
Our online garlic shop takes orders in 1kg increments for the loose garlic bulbs, with 1kg being the minimum order quantity required for those. The Australia Post weight limit is 20kg per package. You can order 1 or more garlic plaits per order. Of course you can purchase any quantity you like from us directly at our farmers' market stalls or via pre-arranged farm gate sales. N.B. We DO NOT supply 'seed garlic' in wholesale quantities.
How many garlic bulbs in 1 kilo?
If kept dry and stored properly, your gorgeous gourmet garlic will keep perfectly, without sprouting until April or May, so about 5 months from its harvest in November.
From around April/May the garlic will start its natural sprouting process but will still taste great, so you can happily use it in your kitchen as it will still be fresher and superior in flavour to almost all other garlic available in the shops.
Why would I buy my year’s supply of garlic just after harvest?
Being an annual crop, even if you buy ‘fresh’ Australian garlic a bulb or two at a time, it is still from the same harvest back around November. That is, if you buy more garlic from us or elsewhere months down the track, it will be the same crop as the first (and only) harvest that season/year. Therefore it is perfectly practical to purchase new season garlic in bulk so long as you store it well. Most long-stored shop bought garlic has been cool stored, which rapidly diminishes its quality greatly and is why it has so often sprouted and is flavourless.
How best do I store my garlic?
Simply store in a dry, well ventilated location, away from direct sunlight and heat. Do NOT store it in the fridge as this will encourage your garlic to sprout prematurely and make it spongy and rapidly diminish its flavour.
How much garlic do I have to buy?
Our online garlic shop takes orders in 1kg increments for the loose garlic bulbs, with 1kg being the minimum order quantity required for those. The Australia Post weight limit is 20kg per package. You can order 1 or more garlic plaits per order. Of course you can purchase any quantity you like from us directly at our farmers' market stalls or via pre-arranged farm gate sales. N.B. We DO NOT supply 'seed garlic' in wholesale quantities.
How many garlic bulbs in 1 kilo?
Approximately 15-20 plump bulbs per kilo. May vary by a few bulbs more or less but is of course always the full weight ordered.
Regardless the size of rocambole bulbs, the cloves are always a good size and easy to peel!
Why is organic garlic so much more expensive than other garlic in the shops?
There’s 2 major factors:
a) Growing garlic commercially is a very labour intensive business, particularly when grown without using pesticides, fungicides and herbicides. Angelica Organic Farm garlic is produced almost entirely by hand – it’s planted, mulched, weeded, harvested, cured, trimmed, cleaned, sorted, plaited and packed by hand, ensuring the best quality garlic.
b) The ‘flood’ of cheap, inferior, chemically treated garlic into Australia began a decade or so ago. China has become our largest supplier (90% +) by forcing down its price through cheap labour, harsh working conditions and substandard farming practises. Ethical consumerism (preventing exploitation of humans, animals and the natural environment) and fair trade (preventing exploitation of us growers!) are serious considerations, which demand we ask ‘how our food is grown, at what price and who paid the real price?’
Can I plant Angelica Organic Farm garlic?
Yes. It’s best to keep the bulb whole and then split the cloves up to be planted individually (each clove produces a new bulb) in autumn, around late March or into April . Until then, store well as normal. You plant them with the pointy end sticking upwards, covered just under the soil, about 10cm apart and it takes approximately 8-9 months to grow.
N.B.: Our focus is to grow premium quality, gourmet garlic for direct sale as food to home cooks and chefs. We are NOT commercial planting stock suppliers or set up to do so (even though our garlic is 'fertile' and you can grow from it in your home garden if you wish). We do not wholesale or sell 'bulk priced' planting stock and are simply not a large enough farm for those sales approaches.
Can I eat garlic which has sprouted?
Yes. Our garlic only sprouts naturally and not prematurely as it is not cold-stored. Once sprouted, the flavour is not at its most pungent nor is its health giving power at its strongest but it still tastes very good and superior to most shop bought garlic. Some people prefer to remove and discard the green sprout when they cut the garlic in half and others eat it sprouts and all.
a) Growing garlic commercially is a very labour intensive business, particularly when grown without using pesticides, fungicides and herbicides. Angelica Organic Farm garlic is produced almost entirely by hand – it’s planted, mulched, weeded, harvested, cured, trimmed, cleaned, sorted, plaited and packed by hand, ensuring the best quality garlic.
b) The ‘flood’ of cheap, inferior, chemically treated garlic into Australia began a decade or so ago. China has become our largest supplier (90% +) by forcing down its price through cheap labour, harsh working conditions and substandard farming practises. Ethical consumerism (preventing exploitation of humans, animals and the natural environment) and fair trade (preventing exploitation of us growers!) are serious considerations, which demand we ask ‘how our food is grown, at what price and who paid the real price?’
Can I plant Angelica Organic Farm garlic?
Yes. It’s best to keep the bulb whole and then split the cloves up to be planted individually (each clove produces a new bulb) in autumn, around late March or into April . Until then, store well as normal. You plant them with the pointy end sticking upwards, covered just under the soil, about 10cm apart and it takes approximately 8-9 months to grow.
N.B.: Our focus is to grow premium quality, gourmet garlic for direct sale as food to home cooks and chefs. We are NOT commercial planting stock suppliers or set up to do so (even though our garlic is 'fertile' and you can grow from it in your home garden if you wish). We do not wholesale or sell 'bulk priced' planting stock and are simply not a large enough farm for those sales approaches.
Can I eat garlic which has sprouted?
Yes. Our garlic only sprouts naturally and not prematurely as it is not cold-stored. Once sprouted, the flavour is not at its most pungent nor is its health giving power at its strongest but it still tastes very good and superior to most shop bought garlic. Some people prefer to remove and discard the green sprout when they cut the garlic in half and others eat it sprouts and all.
Alternately you can plant these cloves in your garden (plant late March/early April in Southern States).
What varieties of garlic do you grow?
Our 2009 garlic stock was a red rocambole variety, a hard-necked purple-skinned, early season type. Rocamboles are renowned for their excellent flavour, glamorous red-purple skins and easily peeled, single circle of 6-12 plump cloves.
Along with the new season red rocambole currently growing, we are trialling a Californian White, soft-neck, late season variety for the coming 2010/2011 season. Therefore we will have an 'early' harvest around late November and a 'late' harvest around late December and anticipate being able to supply more garlic for long this coming season.
Is your garlic an Italian variety?
Rocamboles are commonly referred to as an ‘Italian variety’ but really that is a myth which has probably grown through world famed Italian cuisine and its faithful use of this common garlic type. Most experts agree, all garlic actually originated in the mountains of South-Central Asia thousand of years ago, within the original ‘garlic crescent’ as it is known, which probably ran along the modern Soviet border with China, Afghanistan and Iran (e.g. Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan).
Can I buy produce at your farm gate?
Yes. You are welcome to pre-order and collect in-season produce direct from us at the farm. To pre-order please phone Tim (0438 482 738 - at least one day ahead please) for pick up from the farm at a pre-arranged time (mostly Friday arvo pick ups are suitable). We will run a regular produce listing on the home page, keeping you informed on what’s currently available or find out when you call. PLEASE NOTE: We are not set up like a green grocer's shop at the farm, availability of different vegies varies and PRE-ORDERS are ESSENTIAL. Friday afternoons fit in best with our weekly harvesting schedule for pick up and full availability of produce.
Seasonal vegetables and herbs are generally available from summer through to late autumn, with summer being the most abundant period with the most variety of crops.
What farmers' markets will we see you at?
Please come and meet us and sample the Angelica Organic Farm harvest at the following monthly farmers’ markets: Daylesford Farmers’ Market (1st Sat.), Collingwood Children’s Farm Farmers’ Market (2nd Sat.), Hawthorn's Boroondara Farmers’ Market (3rd Sat) and Slow Food Melbourne Farmers’ Market (4th Sat).
Click here for full market details.
What varieties of garlic do you grow?
Our 2009 garlic stock was a red rocambole variety, a hard-necked purple-skinned, early season type. Rocamboles are renowned for their excellent flavour, glamorous red-purple skins and easily peeled, single circle of 6-12 plump cloves.
Along with the new season red rocambole currently growing, we are trialling a Californian White, soft-neck, late season variety for the coming 2010/2011 season. Therefore we will have an 'early' harvest around late November and a 'late' harvest around late December and anticipate being able to supply more garlic for long this coming season.
Is your garlic an Italian variety?
Rocamboles are commonly referred to as an ‘Italian variety’ but really that is a myth which has probably grown through world famed Italian cuisine and its faithful use of this common garlic type. Most experts agree, all garlic actually originated in the mountains of South-Central Asia thousand of years ago, within the original ‘garlic crescent’ as it is known, which probably ran along the modern Soviet border with China, Afghanistan and Iran (e.g. Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan).
Farm Gate Sales & Farmers’ Markets
Yes. You are welcome to pre-order and collect in-season produce direct from us at the farm. To pre-order please phone Tim (0438 482 738 - at least one day ahead please) for pick up from the farm at a pre-arranged time (mostly Friday arvo pick ups are suitable). We will run a regular produce listing on the home page, keeping you informed on what’s currently available or find out when you call. PLEASE NOTE: We are not set up like a green grocer's shop at the farm, availability of different vegies varies and PRE-ORDERS are ESSENTIAL. Friday afternoons fit in best with our weekly harvesting schedule for pick up and full availability of produce.
Seasonal vegetables and herbs are generally available from summer through to late autumn, with summer being the most abundant period with the most variety of crops.
What farmers' markets will we see you at?
Please come and meet us and sample the Angelica Organic Farm harvest at the following monthly farmers’ markets: Daylesford Farmers’ Market (1st Sat.), Collingwood Children’s Farm Farmers’ Market (2nd Sat.), Hawthorn's Boroondara Farmers’ Market (3rd Sat) and Slow Food Melbourne Farmers’ Market (4th Sat).
Click here for full market details.
Other events where you'll see us...
- Sunday 10 January 2010: The Lavandula Summer Harvest Festival - Celebrate bringing in the lavender harvest and local rural skills and artisanal produce at the bucolic Lavandula.
- Sunday 7 February 2010: The Lake House Regional Producers Day - Enjoy sampling the best produce, food and wine that the Daylesford-Macedon region has to offer and meet the growers and producers by Lake Daylesford in the gardens of the award winning Lake House.
- April 1, May 1 & 2 : The Noosa Food & Wine Festival (at the Regional Victoria stand)
Other Produce- Vegies and Herbs
As well as gorgeous gourmet garlic, our family farm consists of small-scale mixed cropping of seasonal vegetables (e.g. rainbow chard and silverbeet, zucchinis, salad greens, broccoli, cauliflowers, some heirloom beetroots and carrots), heirloom tomatoes (from late Feb. approx.), culinary herbs and during summer a small range and amount of cut flowers. We run a regular produce listing on the home page, keeping you informed on what’s currently available or find out by calling Tim on 0438 482 738.
Seasonal vegetables and herbs are generally available from summer through to late autumn, with summer being the most abundant period with the most variety of crops. We have a 'hungry patch' over winter into early spring, due to our long, cold winters.
