Garlic Picking / Packing
Garlic, which is widely use in all household as an ingredient for food and as medicine, is also known as Allium Sativum of a major flowering plant called Allium – an Onion genus – where onion, chives, shallot, leek and scallion is also included.
It is said that garlic was first used even before Giza Pyramids are being built in Egypt then it went on China in 2000 BCE, where it was mostly used to treat various conditions such poor digestion and respiratory problems.
In Australia, there are about 500 tons of Garlic being produced every year, though, there had been a production decline for the last 10 years. Australia may not be producing much but the household consumption of it in the country reached to 10,500 tons. These garlic were mostly being imported from May to November by different countries such Taiwan, China, New Zealand, U.S.A and Africa.
There’s an estimated 1,000 varieties of Garlic worldwide; however, since a huge number of people are confused which garlic to call which name, many countries created garlic groups to determine the characteristics of one cultivar to another. Garlic groups include Creole Group, Rocambole Group, Porcelain Group, Standard Purple Stripe Group, Glazed Purple Stripe Group, Turban Group, Middle Eastern Group, Artichoke Group, Asiatic Group and Silverskin Group.
Although Garlic is already divided into groups, it is still categorized into two types – softnecks and hardnecks. Hardnecks are those types of garlic that produces scapes while the other does not. Hardnecks are also divided into two – Weakly Bolting, which usually produces scapes especially in cold weather conditions, and Strongly Bolting.
The main commercially-produced variety of garlic that Australia is producing includes:
Glenlarge – a purple-skinned, softneck type of garlic that is best grown in warm areas.
Australian White – it is a variety of garlic that is white in color but occasionally has purple marks. It is a softneck type that normally has medium to large-sized bulb.
Monaro Purple – it is also known as “Rocambole” variety that has produces sweet and nutty flavor. It is a hardneck type which is best grown in cooler areas.
Italian White – it usually has a creamy white color that produces medium-sized to large-sized bulb.
Creole ‘Rojo de Castro’ – it is also known as “Red Rocambole,” which is included in hardneck type variety. It produces silvery white bulb and is said to only worth buying for cooking purposes as it has a powerhouse flavor.
Areas where garlic is mainly produced are in Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia, as consumers’ interest of buying garlic for its healthy benefits increased in the country. On the other hand, Queensland and in Northern New South Wales plants garlic during warmer climate that is normally during the months of March until late April, which in return can already be harvested by September.
If you’re interested to work as a garlic picker, it is worthy to note that they can be picked and pulled easily by hands; however, some farms are using machineries in picking garlic that causes such excessive bruising to the vegetable. You may harvest the garlic if it is already matured as over-matured garlic tends to become rot. Your pay may either be per contract, which normally pays on how much you picked, or per hour basis.
