Meet and greet our Garlic Gurus at the Festival.
Meet our Festival speakers, the country’s leading experts on garlic. Take the opportunity to learn about the many varieties of garlic and how to grow it. Plus presentations on small farm and commercial growing, and a Q&A panel with garlic growers and specialists.
Garlic University Schedule
9:30 - Penny Woodward - Opening 10:30 - A Starters Guide for Home Growing Garlic - Vele Civijovski, Garlic Kingdom and Belinda Lambert, Edward River Produce and AGIA EO 11:30 - Journey into Commercial Garlic Growing - Jackson Malley , Local Garlic Grower 1:00 -Beyond Raw Garlic: Creating High-Value Garlic Products - Nick Young, Flinders Farm Gate and Amanda Roffe, Balmattum...
Penny Woodward
Author | Broadcaster | Editor | Garlic Guru Penny is a dedicated organic gardener with a degree in botany and zoology. She is the author or co-author of 8 gardening books, including the award-winning ‘Garlic, an organic guide to knowing, sowing and using garlic’ and multi-award winning ‘Tomato - know sow grow feast’. A life member of the Australian Garlic...
John Olliff
Founder | Freshwater Creek Garlic Chair | Australian Garlic Industry Association John has been growing garlic for 13 years, near Geelong in Victoria. Over time he has extended his crop and is now a fully certified organic garlic grower. Before growing garlic, John had a business in the food service industry, and management experience in both a publicly listed company and a sports...
Jackson Malley
Join local grower Jackson Malley as he shares his journey into commercial garlic growing. From starting small and scaling up, to soil health, selecting seed stock, disease prevention, harvest management, and balancing farming with full-time work, this talk offers practical insights for anyone interested in growing garlic seriously and sustainably.
Nick Young
Flinders Black Garlic – Mornington Peninsula – Vic Nick joined the AGIA in 2020, in 2021 was elected to a Board position and in 2023 joined the Board executive as Treasurer until 2024 . Nick farms garlic using organic and regenerative principles on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria.. In 2024, Nick won a 2024 Nuffield Scholarship to ‘Find ways to grow ‘greener’...
Vele Civijovski
Garlic Kingdom Australia – Badja Forest Farm, Snowy Mountains - NSW Vele was elected to the board in 2025 and specialises in growing rare and specialty heritage garlic varieties through non conventional methods using no till raised garden beds Vele also conducts garlic planting and diverse variety tasting workshops and provides guidance on garlic cultivation to groups and individuals throughout the...
Amanda Rofe
Balmattum Garlic – North of Euroa, Vic Amanda starting growing garlic in 2019 on her farm located near Euroa, Vic. In 2022 Amanda was one of four Victorian farmers selected for CQUniversity Australia’s Female Farmers of the Future project which is being delivered in partnership with the Victoria Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub’ Birchip Cropping Group’ Food and Fibre Gippsland’ and...
Belinda Lambert
Edward River Produce Garlic – Deniliquin, NSW Belinda is a part time farmer based in Deniliquin NSW and started growing garlic in 2018. Belinda also works part time as an extension Officer for a Farming Systems Group and Knowledge Broker for the Future Drought Fund’s Southern NSW Drought Innovation Adoption and Resilience Hub. Belinda was the AGIA Secretary from 2019...
David Jones
Co-founder and former President of the Meeniyan Garlic Festival Previous local garlic farmer at Mirboo Farm Garlic along with with his wife and renowned garlic grower, Kirsten. Co-owner of Farmers Daughters Restaurant, Farmer's Daughters preserves the proud tradition of Gippsland's farmers and producers and delivers their delicious produce direct to the heart of Melbourne.