Third annual festival

The annual Meeniyan Garlic Festival is in its third year and the small town of 780 people will attract more than 8000 garlic lovers on February 15 for garlic plaiting, smoking and fermenting workshops and cooking shows.

There will be garlic milkshakes, garlic beer and garlic ice-cream at the festival, which was dreamed up by locals Kirsten and David Jones.

"It's put Meeniyan on the map," says Dinsbergs.

The festival is being credited as a driving force behind a resurgence for Meeniyan, which like many country towns has faced stagnant population growth over the years but has grown recently.

Since the first festival, new businesses which have opened include Pandesal Bakery, Meeniyan Square, Meeniyan Pantry, Allforms of Design, Outer Space Sculpture Gallery, Hana’s Studio and Meen Feedz.

Kirstyn Armstrong opened Meen Feedz six months ago, buying a milk bar which had been struggling for $65,000.

The cafe focuses on local, organic and fresh produce and turnover is now more than $6000 a week.

"Once my kids were old enough to go to school that’s when I decided I wanted to buy the shop and its always been a passion of mine," says Armstrong. "I had a vision and just went for it and people were really impressed by it."

Armstrong says tourism has been key to revitalising the town including the Meeniyan Garlic Festival.

"It's a bit different but I think being in this area helps, having it grown just around the corner, people appreciate fresh and local," she says.

Garlic institute

The business opportunities in garlic will be explored at a Garlic Institute as part of the festival and Jackson Malley will share his journey into farming and into the world of a start-up commercial garlic grower.

The former mortgage broker sold his Melbourne home to make the transition from finance to farming, and bought a 60-acre farm near Mirboo North, where he has 40 head of cattle and grows pumpkin, watermelon, zucchini, chilli, tomatoes and of course, garlic.

"I grow things I like to eat," says Malley.

He's also done the maths. One tonne of garlic sells for $25,000, while one tonne of potatoes sells for $200.

However, Malley says it's early days, with turnover under $100,000. He warns growing garlic is not for the faint-hearted, with the bulbs known as "the unforgiving crop".

"It's very difficult,'' he says. ''It is in the ground for eight months and there are a lot of things that can go wrong. There are a lot of diseases and you can lose a crop overnight in a hail storm, and it can be just before harvest."

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Despite the challenges, Australian-grown garlic is experiencing a resurgence after the local industry was almost destroyed in the mid-1990s when tariffs were removed and cheap imports retailed for as low as $2 a kilo.

Malley and the town of Meeniyan are banking on customers being prepared to pay for quality.

"People are realising they don’t want bleached, imported garlic from the supermarket," Malley says. "They are happy to spend a bit more to get a quality product. You can use less garlic in your cooking because it has more flavour. Once you use good garlic you don't go back to using anything else."