"It is a really sexy, beautiful bulb," said Jane Sherborne-Higgins, the owner of Goulburn Garlic, adding that fresh garlic was a deep red or purple. "It is hard and firm and they have got that lovely shape," she said.

After being outpriced by a flood of Chinese and other imported garlic more than 12 years ago, the local - mostly organic - garlic market is bouncing back, says the Australian Garlic Industry Association. 

Before then, there were as many as 300 Australian growers. Unable to compete on price, the industry association was disbanded four years ago, when grower numbers dropped below 100, said Leon Trembath,  chairman of the recently reinstated association.

It now has 100 members, who are growing as many as 300 varieties of garlic in blushing shell pinks, stripey reds and deep purple. The market was slowly recovering, thanks to cooking programs and chefs who had triggered a "reawakening the public's awareness of the goodness of garlic."

Not a day went by without calls from people who wanted to grow garlic, said Mr Trembath.

Local growers say they can't meet demand for fresh garlic and the curly stalks, called scapes, which are used in cooking and stir-fry recipes.

Penny Simons, the co-owner of Borrowed Land Garlic near Robertson NSW, has just harvested 6000 bulbs, about 600 kilograms in total, from a 15-square-metre plot on a farm near Robertson, NSW. After experimenting with other types of garlic in the past few years, her company decided on rocambole, an amazing purple garlic that chefs like, she said.

"Because it is purple they know it is not Chinese, and that's a big selling factor," Ms Simons said.

Small growers are competing with about 100,000 tonnes of imported garlic from China, Spain, Mexico and other countries. Most of it has been in cold storage, bleached to give it a distinctive white look and treated with pesticide.

Like Ms Sherborne-Higgins, most growers resort to purple prose to describe their passion for their crop, although every step from planting to harvest is done by hand.

"You would have to passionate about it," said Mat Campbell, the co-owner of Green Heart Garlic near Robertson, who this week put out 26,000 heads of garlic to dry. "Otherwise it would be misery because when you are awake at midnight for the second week in a row, popping cloves [separating them with a calloused thumb], only passion can get you through."

Mrs Sherborne-Higgins said they had harvested their fifth crop of about 12,000 bulbs, grown on 500 square metres. It is soldfor  about $38 a kilogram. Borrowed Land garlic will sell at markets for about $40 for a kilogram of plaited garlic.

Goulburn Garlic had experimented with 14 varieties to see how they grew, what they tasted like and what customers preferred. To clear the palate and the head between each garlic, they ate a bit of bread and butter, said Mrs Sherborne-Higgins. In the end, they decided on three varieties, Italian Red, Italian White and Monaro Purple. 

"People just think garlic is garlic, but there are many different varieties. Some mature earlier than others, all have a different flavour, some are strong and pungent, some are quite mild which even children can eat," said Mrs Sherborne-Higgins.