Gourmet garlic worthy of a medal

WHETHER it is used for stuffing a Chicken Kiev or making pesto sauce, Mirboo Farm’s prized garlic wins hands down according to both locals and national food critics.
For Kirsten and David Jones, the proof was in the pudding this year when their home grown garlic won a silver medal at the RASV 2015 Fine Food Awards in competition with Australia’s best garlic producers.
“We were fairly shocked and surprised to have won an award,” Mrs Jones said.
“It was a delight for us because we have always found it difficult to subjectively judge our produce. It was nice to hear a positive response from somebody else.”
The couple moved to Mirboo for a tree change five years ago where they established Mirboo Farm.
“We grew up in a drought so when we were looking to move we researched places with high rainfall and this area receives the second highest rainfall in the state,” Mrs Jones said.
With 15 years of horticultural experience, Mrs Jones wanted to grow and sell her own produce locally.
During the late harvest, the Jones family employed the help of friends to uproot the half acre of garlic on their property before it went into the shed for drying and curing.
“We decided to focus on growing garlic because we thought it was a more manageable vegetable to grow,” Mrs Jones.
“We have expanded our crop fourfold this year with both an early and late harvest.”
The expansion has included the growth of four varieties of garlic: red Italian hardneck, Monaro purple, Spanish Rojas and rojo de castro.
Having two harvests means locals can enjoy Mirboo Farm garlic year round.
“It is great for us because as we start to run out of garlic to eat, we get a whole new harvest coming in,” Mrs Jones said.
She and daughter Flicka Jones work together to run Meeniyan Store, dedicated to supplying local, organic produce to the community in support of the local farming industry.
Flicka manages the running of the store using her experience in retail while her mother liaises with local producers to sell the latest in seasonal food and produce in store daily.
With plans to double production next year, Mirboo Farm is in the middle of refurbishment, with upgrades currently underway for new drying facilities.
Once the garlic is pulled out of the ground, the Joneses place the garlic in drying racks before it is cured for two to three weeks.
“The garlic loses 30 per cent of its weight in drying. If it is over dried, it loses its goodness. If it gets too hot while drying, it will bake and if it gets too humid the garlic rots,” Mrs Jones said.
It has taken years to perfect the production of garlic at Mirboo Farm and while the Joneses are humble, the quality of their produce is undeniably up with the best in Australia.
Mirboo Farm garlic will soon be available to order online from the website. The Joneses’ produce is also stocked at The Meeniyan Store while the business meets with customers regularly at farmer’s markets in Foster and 50 Mile Market in Morwell.

First class garlic: Kirsten Jones sits among her half acre of garlic at Mirboo Farm.

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Posted by Sarah Vella on Dec 1 2015. Filed under Rural News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry