GARLIC GOLD FOR BARRINGTON FARMER

Love this article by local Gloucester journo, Rebecca Casson. She has really captured the essence of our garlic story in the Mid North Coast Paddock to Plate magazine.
Link to article

Barrington River Organic Farm Garlic Crop

GROWING GARLIC WITH BIODYNAMICS

Garlic Growers in our area plant out their crops over Autumn. Our crop is in the ground and growing beautifully, ready to be harvested late October, early November.

What do you need to do to grow garlic biodynamically?

If a green manure crop has been grown on beds, brush cut the crop, then mulch mow it and if you don’t want to dig it in, spray it with either Manure Concentrate or Combined Soil Preparation, then you can apply a layer of biodynamic compost, worm castings or your choice of organic fertiliser (blood and bone, dynamic lifter etc). Water this in and cover the beds with a thick layer (200 ml) of mulch (old pasture hay is great). Leave for 4-6 weeks, then pull mulch aside and plant garlic cloves. Apply another spray of Combined Soil Preparation or Soil Activator when mulch has been pulled aside for planting before re-applying.

Those who are cultivating their beds, apply Biodynamic Soil Activator or Combined Soil Preparation to the soil after cultivation and again at planting.

Garlic cloves will benefit from being soaked overnight before planting in stirred biodynamic soil preparation (whatever you are using).

When the garlic shoots are 100 ml high, you can spray the crop with Horn Silica.

When the crop has started taking off again in Spring, apply a biodynamic soil spray, followed by Horn Silica in the morning. Two weeks later, the crop can be sprayed with Fish/Seaweed Concentrate.

One week before harvest, spray the crop with Horn Silica (some people spray this on root crops that are ready for harvest in the afternoon). This will finish off the crop, maximising flavour and shelf life. It will also strengthen the outer skin and prevent fungal attack in storage.

To find out more visit the Biodynamic Agriculture Australia's web site

FERTILISING OUR BIODYNAMIC FARM ORCHARD WITH FISH STEW

We are fortunate to have access to fish scraps from the Tea Gardens Fisherman's Co Op.  The fish are from the pristine waters off Hawks Nest and Port Stephens. The fish scraps are put into stainless steel tanks, along with water, enzymes and Biodynamic Preps.  The mixture is left for approximately six months and then sprayed out around the trees to the drip-line in the orchard and the solids are then added around the base of the trees. This is done once a year.  (It is also sprayed on the garlic rows before we plant the garlic in April.) Special disposable suits are worn as it is really on the nose!