Debbie and Helena hit a purple patch
Debbie and Helena Woodcock of Pure and Purple Garlic Kimberley
JULY 2017 | Lorraine Clarke
THE RICH, fertile soil of Kimberley is now home to an unassuming little crop that packs a punch. A narrow strip of green strappy leaves running down the steep hill is barely noticeable in the pasture, but Debbie Woodcock’s hopes and dreams are planted there along with 7,500 purple turban garlic cloves.
Her sister-in-law Helena Woodcock has the matching pair to this plot, and together, these ladies have built a successful small business called Pure And Purple Garlic.
“We were retired and bored,” said Debbie. “We just wanted something to do. So 4 years ago we bought 10kg of garlic seed and planted it.
At first, we only wanted to grow fresh garlic and sell it locally.” However, fresh garlic bulbs won’t keep throughout the year, but begin sprouting in autumn.
They decided to slice and dry all their garlic, so they had a product to sell all year.
Now, they don’t sell any fresh garlic. They began with packets of plain dried garlic slices and soon expanded to a range of zingy mixes in reusable glass grinders and paper refill sachets.
Their husbands do the necessary tractor work, but Helena and Debbie do everything else by hand.
“We each grow half the crop on our own farm, so that if one plot fails we still have the other,” explained Helena.
The ladies plant up to 15,000 cloves by hand in April and pull the bulbs in November. They rarely need to irrigate. The garlic is grown organically on biodegradable weedmat which allows it to reach its full potential.
The plots are rotated onto fresh ground each year. The bulbs are bunched and hung up to dry, and then begins the laborious task of peeling. 500 kg of harvested garlic is reduced by two thirds after drying in their electric dehydrator. All processing is done by hand with kitchen appliances.
Only organic Australian products are used in Pure And Purple Garlic mixes. Helena and Debbie travelled to Hobart to pick wild fennel on the hottest day of the year. They and their friends grow some of the chillies, lemon myrtle and rosemary which are all dried and coarsely ground, then combined into 5 distinctive spicy blends. All are mixed with pink Murray River Salt flakes, and pepper from a nearby native pepper berry plantation. It takes 18 kg of oranges to provide the dried zest for 100 grinders of their orange-fennel garlic blend, so the ladies turned the citrus juice into a fresh cordial which sold well at their Agfest stand this year.
“Our husbands never ate garlic before. Now Debbie’s husband eats it raw,” said Helena. They find that everybody gets passionate about the business and wants to be involved with the many tasks of harvesting, processing and packaging.
It is very much a family affair, and they don’t intend to get big enough to have to buy machinery and employ staff. They have found that Agfest visitors from all over Australia have become enthusiastic return customers for their gourmet products, through their online store. They are developing a website at www. pureandpurple.com.
Photo | Mike Moores
