Planting 1500 Garlic Cloves in our new Flipped-Sod Raised Beds

[@icolak]

I like people who are not begging for subscription or thumbs up. I also like your genuine simple explanations including your mistakes. Thank you.

[@saltwatertaffy7020]

I don't mind background music as long as it is used w/discretion and not willy-nilly.

[@totherarf]

They aren't mistakes .... they are learning experiences!

[@tony_25or6to4]

Well done. It's like watching a PBS show in the 80s or 90s. Informational, entertaining, and well produced.

[@nelsonenzo6315]

i dont mean to be off topic but does someone know a way to log back into an instagram account..? I stupidly lost my password. I would love any tricks you can offer me!

[@noechase3516]

@Nelson Enzo instablaster =)

[@nelsonenzo6315]

@Noe Chase thanks so much for your reply. I got to the site on google and I'm trying it out atm. Seems to take a while so I will reply here later when my account password hopefully is recovered.

[@nelsonenzo6315]

@Noe Chase It did the trick and I now got access to my account again. I'm so happy:D Thanks so much, you saved my ass!

[@noechase3516]

@Nelson Enzo Glad I could help =)

[@MrErikcool]

I don't even have a garden. Or a house. But your videos are just so well made and interesting !! Subscribed

[@gerryrozema8338]

The hole poker is called a dibber. When we were at 1500 for garlic, did a lot of things kinda like you are doing, but, it gets to be a LOT more work when you go past planting 5000, and you will figure out ways to streamline the work. Two years ago, we planted on Saturday, intending to mulch it all on Sunday, but when we got up Sunday morning, it was snowing, so we didn't get to mulching. The next summer, we saw no difference in bulb size, yield, or even weeds compared to years we mulched. So now we skip that part of the process completely. Another huge labor saver for us. If my memory is correct, one of your other videos had a little JD lawn tractor for mowing. Look up the bercomac tiller that fits those little things. It wasn't expensive, 30 inch tiller, and it'll do wonders for saving labor working your ground. We have used ours for 5 years now, it's one of the best investments we ever made for tending our plots. Most of our plots are 50' x 75', and two passes thru with the berco tiller turns the dirt well. After that, drop the tiller off the tractor, then drive up the soft dirt, there's 24 inches between the wheels, tire tracks make perfect 'paths' up your garlic patch. You end up with packed paths, and soft rows between them. After running up and down with the tractor to make the rows, grab the dibber and walk down the tire track paths punching holes. You can actually do 4 rows in the 24 inch wide stripe and have a 12 inch packed path between them. Anything narrower than that gets problematic over time. Want to see an easy way to get a dramatic increase in bulb size? With two people planting, one walks up the path dropping fishmeal into each hole, the second behind dropping in bulbs. Again, this can be streamlined, find a little line spreader and just walk up the row dropping the fishmeal over the row, dont worry to much about trying to get it directly into the holes. We started with garlic similar to how you did, with about a hundred bulbs in 2013. We do on the order of 5000 today. When we first started and had not streamlined much, planting 1500 was a weekend project. This year, planting 5000 was a day project, and that included tilling the beds to start the day. As you pointed out, the most tedious part is separating the cloves, some varieties (music in particular) separate quite easily, others are much more difficult. We usually put a movie on then sit in the living room separating cloves while watching a movie. Oh, and on your varieties list, the 'elephant' is not actually a garlic, it's a leek.

[@WhatWeDoChannel]

Gerry Rozema That’s good advice! It hurts me when people think elephant is actually a type of garlic. Then they show a comparison of how much bigger the elephant is to regular garlic, which is like comparing a grapefruit to a tangerine!

[@barneyrubble4293]

I've also heard garden fork

[@ritcheymt]

Wow Gerry, great automation/efficiency tips on planting garlic. It's amazing how often just getting out and doing something over and over helps you stumble upon new efficiencies -- sometimes even when you think you goofed up, as with your year-without-mulch experience. Thanks for sharing!

[@savegraysoncats]

I thought their whole point was not to till or disturb the system

[@OohzyJohnDow]

There is something about you that is endearing and pleasant to watch and listen to. Your logics, your facial expressions and tone of voice. Keep up the good work.

[@sandralawson5598]

I love how you are matter of fact by getting to the point and no extra words that aren't needed. Will be back to your channel!

[@deanburgess8989]

Clear concise content. Excellent job mate. 🇦🇺

[@BackToReality]

Thanks D B!

[@johnfitbyfaithnet]

Agreed

[@littlesquirrel5007]

Some areas I can't rotate. Or I choose not to. Same plantings, 15 years, zero problems. Lots of compost added maybe that helps.

[@SouthpawDavey]

The off set will help I plant my beds like that the extra space just that inch will give you a better crop. I would love to see how you make garlic salt. All the best Dave

[@TarekWriter]

Bro, these videos are amazing. So relaxed and educational with just the right amount of production value with the garden map. Only content creator I want to thumb up every video for.

[@shilohpointfarm8544]

Just found you on KZbin, and I have to say, I'm loving it. We've just got into a great house in the country. I have a few chickens and a beehive and a couple sheep. Life is good. Come spring, I plan on gardening, and having great, informative videos like yours makes it seem so doable. Thanks for your vids.

[@anjap7728]

Such simple ,easy and logical explanation with animation. Makes it easy to understand. Thank you for taking so much effort in making these videos.

[@stephenschwake524]

No Vampires at your house...

[@davidpenner4414]

I was just going to comment what you did.

[@mikedeman5351]

When you plant garlic at 6" centres in each direction, you are basically allotting each garlic a 6" x 6" square in which they 'sit' in the centre. To maximise a 2' wide bed. you can put FOUR rows at 6" centres, starting 3" in from one side and finishing 3" in from the opposite side (3" +6"+6"+6"+3" = 24") i.e. 4 rows of garlic with 3 x 6" 'lanes' between them. Each garlic still has its own 6" x 6" square and you are maximising the bed.

[@BackToReality]

So we could have squeezed in 2000 plants after all! Oh well, next year :)

[@Here_Today_]

Yep, intensive gardening works great. Great for lettuce too. Nice harvest anyhow and thanks for sharing!

[@RVBob]

You could, but can you even consume 2,000 cloves of garlic? That is a lifetime supply for most. 5.5 years if you consumed a clove a day. 38 years if you consumed one a week.

[@Here_Today_]

@@RVBob lol, welcome to our house! I easily cook between 3-8 cloves a night.

[@mikedeman5351]

@Robert He already is growing 1500 in that bed system and mentioned wanting to grow 2000. I guess if he wants to grow 2000, he has thought it out already. He sounds like a sensible practical guy to me . . . .

[@shrikantkalburgi5418]

Yes sir rotation of crop is very important for good yield and maintaining soil nutrition

[@stalbansfarm6112]

thanks for all the info I think we’re going to give this try this year... we have used the ruth method but I like the flipped sod for our old hay fields.

[@LuigiVicidomini]

Here i. Italy i've tried your method for garlic without soil! Pray for my garlic!

[@mazdarex7]

As a level 4 (out of 10) gardener, playing for 40+ yrs, agree with all your ideas, and like your attitude. Just try and don't worry.

[@ahorseman4ever1]

Very nice, I really like your educational format. The drawings are spot on as well. Can't wait to see more growing season in the spring. I love seeing your wife's enthusiasm too. Really like your channel.

[@mitchcrofoot7813]

I really appreciate the concise manner that you use to provide all of the information. Having watched numerous videos on gardening and other topics, yours is by far the best. Many other people would have taken 45 minutes to provide the same amount information you provide. Thank you very much.

[@floriebrown2089]

Hi there nice to hear from you both, your garlic sounds like a success story glad to know you are still planting, happy gardening

[@debbiegallett1125]

I planted my first garlic this year. Can't wait to see what happens.

[@teleguy5699]

How'd it go?

[@rickabrams3422]

Congrats! I started 2yrs ago and love it!

[@ericdee2525]

made your dibbler for myself and its working out great. thanks again for all your hard work, guys!

[@vesnamaneva2602]

I always enjoy your videos. Well produced, well spoken, fun graphics, and just enough humor (or as you might say, humour!) Good to know you can plant garlic so late, I will be starting some this year so I’m glad there’s still time to prep a new bed, probably like you did it with turning the sod upside down.

[@onebarranch709]

Love the way you guys think and your great team work!! Thanks for sharing your efforts!!

[@BackToReality]

Thanks One Bar Ranch!

[@aislingmeehan9862]

I love that you explain how you work wih your climate and what you would do differently!

[@e210dall3]

Loving the industrial engineering ( Time and Motion ) application to gardening. Problem solving by doing. Keep up the good work. In Australia our garden is going nuts with the warm summer weather. Loving it. Cheers.

[@clayadron907]

First video I've ever watched must say always dream to live off the land in Spain and these videos give to every bit of knowledge I need to grow garlic on my own keep doing what ur doing.

[@holichubbz8218]

Im so bored with this quarantine stuff yet this is making me survive....its surprisingly interesting..

[@nukewarlock5926]

Wow. Second video I've seen and I love how you put time an effort to show what you do in a different way not just by talking and talking and .... well you get the point. Thanks for really educational videos you have. You've earned another sub.

[@shadyman6346]

Love the hole maker! Real time and effort saver...great video series.

[@christophercochran5883]

Hi from east texas Love your channel We have learned so much from you guys. Your honesty is refreshing.

[@michaelmcclafferty3346]

Good video , thanks. In Ireland and Scotland these raised beds are called lazy beds. You might want to look at what Bruce Darrel ( a fellow Canadian ) is doing in the RED Gardens project in Ireland. He has had a lot of success with lazy beds particularly on rough ground.

[@erikaedelle]

I love your simple and to the point explanations. I also love your animated visuals, it really helps you put into perspective. I just subscribed and I would love to see more videos about different crops! Thanks for sharing!

[@claireanderson5903]

Thank you for your cogent, accessible reports of your experiences. I enjoy your no-nonsense style, with the twinkle in your eyes. I greatly appreciate the automated diagrams. Very well done. I love all the numbers and measurements. Whenever I want to learn about something in the garden, i first check to see if you two have done it already. May you live long in a pleasant reality of peach and abundance.

[@claireanderson5903]

Opps, I meant peace, but peaches might be ok too.

[@BackToReality]

Thank you so much for this comment Claire. I really appreciate the feedback! May you live long in an abundance of peaches too ;)

[@d65-m1x]

what a great channel. you speak so well and are so thorough and informative, thanks

[@kjeldschouten-lebbing6260]

companion planting garlic with strawberry tends to work amazing and also keeps soms pests away for both. Just planted strawberries with Elephant garlic here in the same bad, with some columnar fruit trees mixed in. Three layers: Covercrop (strawberry), middleheight crop (elephant garlic) and a bigger crop (columnar fruit trees). I've chosen the elephant variant because it's easier to find them inbetween the strawberry plants and they reach a little heigher... :)

[@flowergrowersmith449]

Check out Charles Dowding's videos - he did a crop rotation video and found that in fact it's a bit of a myth. He's very successfully grown potatoes, for example, in the same place for five years in a row..! The crop varied from year to year a bit but he just tops up his compost every year. Worth a look. Very good video - well done.

[@BackToReality]

Awesome, I'll check that out. Thanks!

[@mksabourinable]

Yea I'd imagine if you're topping up the compost, then you're replenishing the soil... I mean in a forest the fallen leaves from the fall provide compost, right? But then that's just for nutrients, not for diseases... Also I'd imagine different types of crops have different problems. Like I know the 3 sisters method came to exist because of how badly corn would destroy soil, whereas potatoes have been farmed pretty exclusively in lots of areas for hundreds or even thousands of years.

[@alunt2003]

I've watched almost all of Charles Dowding's videos. He really knows his stuff. I've started a No-Dig plot for next year.

[@SecondBestMom]

Back to Eden gardening also doesn't bother with crop rotation. Same principle as mentioned above.

[@HelenRullesteg]

And, there's this famous grower in France who has grown garlic commercially for 30 years on the same piece of land. I like the homemade-hole-poker-thing name ;-)

[@Antreus]

"Thanks for watching" You got my heart on a string! You're welcome. Great content!

[@hilarygomez7027]

I love watching your videos. I wish you could post more frequently.

[@BackToReality]

Thank you Hilary! I wish we could too... Unfortunately, while I've really been enjoying the animations, they do take a lot of extra time to produce. Hopefully I'll gain speed with practice :)

[@kimberlyduncan1053]

I found having the plant that was grown in that area if garden compost in the garden. Of course compost too. Thank you so much for sharing this with me! All knowledge is so very helpful!!! I have used some of your ideas. Thanks again!

[@angeliajohnsonrelationship2179]

This so well done and you are such a great presenter.

[@garlicandchilipreppers8533]

I have several years experience growing garlic, I have read two studies from universities in Toronto, and Auckland both ten year studies. I have always planted 46 plants in one m2. 10cm apart in a row and about 18cm between rows. According to the studies 10cm x 10cm is optimal. I always had good results and depending on type averaging 5kg per m2. You need to let your scapes mature and harvest. Replant these and after a year or two will start producing cloves. Garlic gets tired after seven years of division, and not only will you have fresh planting stock but also disease free.

[@norxgirl1]

So organized! You are so blessed to have a gardening/farming partner!!

[@SharpWorks]

Watching your videos gets me so excited to one day get some land and start my own garden.

[@queensweetpea4006]

HI, This was great. I helped a friend plant garlic here in New Zealand using raised compost and bark chip covering. I think I will give it a go this year. I will watch all your videos first. Interesting regarding your row layout, we made that same mistake and it is a real pain having to walk all the way down the rows to get stuff. Keep up the good work. Cheers Simon

[@sarabrown536]

Thank you this was very helpful! I tried planting a little garlic this winter but this time I’ll start in the fall

[@pyr8at40]

just wanna say, i find your vids interesting and straight forward....if only more youtubers woulk follow that lead...

[@nikkischoessow4659]

Put a pile of hay at both ends of the isles when you get to the end use that hay to start that isle and finish the last one

[@lanedouglas2165]

Just found you two this morning. I've been gardening for over 50 years, but this is first year for garlic. Did you ever create an episode regarding how to clean, trim, and store? I've watched and read others, but your content delivery is so clear, easy to understand, that hearing how you process the dried crop would be nice. I'll be harvesting about 300 plants, of 6 varieties, most likely in June, here in 7B. (NW Tennessee). Thanks

[@TalkingThreadsMedia]

Not sure how I ended up on your channel, but started binge-watching your videos. Wow! You are good! Information is presented in a clear and concise manner. Graphics illustrate the reasoning behind actions being taken. Thoroughly entertaining as well as informative -- Thank you! Became a new subscriber to your channel today (3/28/2019) -- Kate in Olympia, WA. (Oh, and the poking device is called a "dibber").

[@jk7263]

If you let you garlic blossom you get about 30 small garlic sets. Set these close the first year then set them out the next. Then you can use all garlic you harvest. First year sets can grow on scrap land you would normally plant in.

[@caroldean4417]

I prepare oil for deep frying chicken by first frying elephant garlic. Cut them like chips. Watch them carefully, they burn quickly. Delicious!

[@Blahshog]

HI there, I grew "legacy" in the UK last year and found it to be an excellent cropper with a success rate in excess of 95%, it also has a great flavour.

[@sunalwaysshinesonTVs]

Loved the tractor/walking graphic. Thanks for posting :)

[@amymanoharan284]

One of the best suggestions I have for solving the mono-crop issues is companion planting. We inter-mix species that are prone to pets, with ones that are not. We also mix in things like marigolds throughout our beds to keep away pests as well. One of the things to remember is that nature has a natural system of checks and balances. for every pest... there is a predator. So the challenge is to identify your pest... and know what predator likes it the most.

[@thefarmerswifecanada]

My husband and I are trying out your flipped bed method this year. Such a great idea!

[@BackToReality]

That's awesome. Please let us know how it works out. good luck!

[@heron6462]

I recommend the hardneck garlic variety 'Mikulov.' It has an excellent rounded taste and produces fat cloves that save a lot of peeling time in the kitchen and which keep well. Noticing that some other varieties bought from garden shops seem to produce smaller cloves every year that they're planted, I tested Mikulov by planting the smallest cloves I could find and weighing the bulbs after harvesting. The first year they weighed 10% less than average, but in the second year they were back up to average size.

[@AndrooH]

As an Australian garlic grower.... nice video! Don't stress too much about rotation, but I grow a green manure cover crop over summer when the garlic is out. As for mulch, its main job is weed suppression, Garlic doesn't mind the cold. The dibbler is great, I'm about to make a much larger one for my plantings before finally going mechanised in a season or two.

[@rebeccarisk1772]

If you guys put a book together, i will totally buy it.

[@cat-tree9321]

I don't know what it is about these videos, but they make me so happy! I'll definitely take your tips in good use once I'll have a place for doing it :)

[@chadpowell715]

At last! Finally a video on farming garlic. Thanks for the great video.

[@myronplatte8354]

If you decentralize some of the garlic and mix it into the hugel polyculture, you can have your kitchen garlic and your crop garlic. Then do your crop rotations ant mix cover crops with your garlic in the same season.

[@MistressOP]

you can plant sunflowers into flip sod as well. actually, you can plant the two together

[@dannyhughes4889]

You asked for Comments regarding the planting distances so as to increase yield: Your current planting gives an actual root spacing of 3" between rows except along the sides where you stayed with 6". You could plant your side rows 3" from the Garden edge, continue with your 6' spacing and squeeze in another row [or even more] without compromising quality.

[@blockycore9701]

and also keep it up,your the one who made me find my gardening passion,youre the best

[@marlorodo]

Thank you for all the information on planting garlic!

[@steveschnatz790]

In the meantime as always I am thoroughly enjoying your videos your presentation is stellar and your information seems top notch have a good winter

[@Syrnian]

A length of PVC pipe to drop the garlic into the holes and use foot to cover and tamp to eliminate having to be on knees or bent over.

[@m.3591]

Didn’t know I needed this in my life until it showed up in my feed. Great content. Subbed.

[@josephcrouch1925]

Very impressed with your video and actually learned a lot. Simple and to the point. Awesome!

[@bomaite1]

Plant garlic by grasping the clove by the point, using your thumb and first two fingers. Press it down into the soil up to your second knuckle, or however deep you want to plant it. Done. If the soil is dry, it will cover itself up. Otherwise, just wait for the first rain. Keep an eye on them for a week or so, because birds like to pull them out and toss them this way and that. If you stagger the rows by moving one row a little to the right, and the next a little to the left, you can get more rows in a 50 foot swath while maintaining the 6 inch distance. Triangulation. 4 inches will probably be far enough apart, but suit yourself. More severe winters mean planting deeper, but garlic is pretty hardy. Planting too deep can make the cloves smaller. Experiment. Find that happy medium. Fertilize. Garlic is a heavy feeder. You can use conventional fertilizer or composted shit (Make sure all forms of shit have been well composted!!!!), or bone meal, but use something. Leaf mould is a good soil conditioner, too, if you have any. You will get better plants. When you harvest, make loops of baler twine or something similar that are about 10 or 12 inches long. Pick up enough garlic so that you can just get your thumb and middle finger around the stalks and hold them like you were making a nice bouquet of garlic to give to your wife. Romanitic. Now wrap the twine loop around the stems as close as possible to the cloves, passing the knot through the other end of the loop. Pull it tight and hang the knotted end over a nail in your garage or barn or wherever you dry the stuff. If this seems difficult or time consuming, you are doing it wrong. Don't throw the loops away when you are done with them. Use them next year again. Don't weave the stalks together to make a decorative braid. Your garlic will dry out faster or sprout on you, because you will keep in in the light where everybody will admire it. Better to keep it in a cool, dry, dark place. Hang a picture of garlic on the wall. Before the first frost, clip the dry stems from the cloves and cook something with garlic in it to celebrate. Don't forget the wine. You should not follow any of my advise if you don't want to, because it is your garden, and you should do it however you damn well please. I like to do everything with the least effort and the fewest tools myself. I'm a cheapskate, too. Oh, yes, I almost forgot, you should buy of steal a variety of garlic from a variety of sources. Some will do better than others in your situation. Some will taste better, too. Also, save the best garlic to plant. Eat the flawed ones and little ones. You want to be growing next years crop with the best genetics. Unlike you, your garlic will get better with age. You will develop aches and pains, your hair will get gray and fall out, your back will become stooped......you get the picture. Now, feed someone who needs a good meal. Live a good life. Think about that carbon footprint. You do the dishes tonight.

[@mcdoodle158]

Thank you for putting up the metric system.

[@Andy81ish]

In response to your request for ideas to get more plants in, try 4 rows with 5" spacing and 4.5" from the outside two rows to the edge of the 24" bed. If you want 6" between bulbs, you really only need half that to the edge of the bed but a little extra to account for collapses etc is nice. With the alternative rows moved along as you did the bulb spacing will still be 5.8" even with the 5" row spacing.

[@nana23boyz3]

Don't think I will be trying this...but I certainly enjoyed hearing about your experiment. Happy New Year and all best wishes!

[@Jedidragoon]

I do square foot gardening and plant 9 cloves per square foot. So 4 inches per clove. I always get good sized bulbs.

[@russellzauner]

Get an old tire and put the hole plugger/coverer pairs at proper distances and just roll the damn thing down the rows. Take a big pole and slide it through like 15 of these at the right intervals. Get all Conan and conscript all loincloth-wearing farm hands handy (ugh lol) to push it down the length of the beds. Done in one. Put yourself some spiral seed/bulb/start feed tubes along the spokes so that it can drop stuff as it rolls along, maybe a flip gate triggered inbetween the hole punch and plugging. The good part about the thatchy bits is that your beds now have structure and won't really wash away so easy lol

[@Bobert2142]

My rule of thumb is beans greens fruits roots for crop rotations

[@Sequoia690]

Informative, well presented, good info and no BS..Go well, grow well and thanks

[@triage4015]

Oh I think your going to be pleasantly surprised on the garlic.... ^.^ there is some really nice ones out there. Merry X-mas I look forward to seeing how things turn out!

[@frithar]

A new video! What a nice gift on a dreary day. Thank you.

[@juliegravel7776]

use masterblend tomato fert and add calcium and epsom salts use as a weekly feed 1oz per ft then no crop rotation needed as micro nutrients are being made available to both plants and the grow bed. ive used it for several years and have huge healthy crops with few pests.

[@susanstrickland6774]

Excellent video as always. Always something new to try when gardening, part of the fun. So nice to grab your own canned or frozen from the basement to use. Plus, its fun to work together. 😊👍

[@BackToReality]

Thanks Susan! We hope to start canning / preserving more of our produce next year. I'm really looking forward to a full selection of colourful jars!! :)

[@susanstrickland6774]

@@BackToReality No doubt 😊

[@balthizarlucienclan]

Your hole punching thingy is a dibber rake. A correction for your garlic crop rotation issue is to companion plant using an over planted technique. Nature has a really good habit of dealing with plant crowding by evolving around it. If you plant a crop which grows up instead of down then it will be able to utilize canopy space but your garlic is not occupying. Might I suggest planting Some sort of climbing bean in amongst your garlic? This will increase fertility of the soil, allow you to grow vertically, and produce a valuable crop in conjunction with your garlic. You could also try planting a squash to shade the soil. Every 10 feet you could plant a pumpkin or watermelon or Hubbard squash etc. and allow the vines to run the length of the bed providing shade to protect the soil. Layered planting works exceptionally well. For example, this year I will be planting 11 carrots, radishes, two bean plants, one corn plant, one squash plant, and a marigold all within one square foot. I’m doing this over 64 ft.² and will have crazy amounts of yield this year. It might sound crazy but each plant helps every other plant in the planting scheme and no one plant is crowding out any other.

[@notforu8340]

I have been growing garlic for a number of years and found that when selecting heads of garlic select and plant only the larger outer cloves. These will yield much larger heads at harvest time and the smaller inner cloves can always be used in the kitchen. So remember when planting garlic that the smaller cloves will yield a smaller head of garlic. Perhaps you mentioned it and perhaps not. If you are going to grow might as well get the best bang for your buck. The only time I use smaller cloves is when I have a variety that I want to try but only have smaller heads to begin with.

[@oliverhel9629]

Probably going to start taking notes....

[@1558k]

A wonderful and entertaining video. Well spoken and articulated covering every topic well.

[@BackToReality]

My goodness, thanks Doug! What a wonderful comment! :)

you sound like an anchor, very soothing

[@blockycore9701]

your animation got much better

[@BackToReality]

Thanks Nemmax! I've been practicing :)

[@nateknudson8500]

Bush beans are a great crop for rotation. They're nitrogen fixing, they plant early, and they'd be done before your fall crops.

[@fateaverruncus2608]

Ah waited so long for a new video I love this channel :) and so many types of garlic never taught of that :) Thanks!

[@betts258]

you guys are great! love to watch!

[@lukejones1244]

Garlic is a perennial, so I recommend using companion planting, or polyculture. Onions and strawberries go well with garlic, as do brassicas.

[@lukejones1244]

Also, in my experience, garlic sprouts green shoots up first, before producing roots, so covering them with a mulch would prevent them from photosynthesizing and slow their development down.

[@Jacklynofalltrades]

You are amazing!!! Using your brain versus brawn. I love it! Good job.

[@letsgrow-green8093]

To really help it would be good to plant cover crops Clove and such so you can upkeep your crop rotation!

[@mrsandman3954]

We've planted some this year, about Nov..on a small scale, and looking forward to next summer. I LOVE garlic..Id put it in my cherios if my wife would let me..lol

[@BackToReality]

We are of one mind. Garlic cheerios... I'm in! :)

[@probablynotdad6553]

If you're worried about keeping the beds fertile then get a scythe and use fresh grass clippings as mulch for your garlic, the worms love it.

[@BackToReality]

YES! A scythe is on my shopping list for sure :)

[@probablynotdad6553]

@@BackToReality Check on the videos about Jim Kovaleski, he suggests just going & buying an old one if you can & it's not overly damaged from time (he also fertilizes about 1500 heads of garlic with grass like I was mentioning.) The dude's amazing for sure, definitely an inspiration for me as a younger gardener & hopefully farmer some day.

[@quintyoung]

Well I live in the south, in Northern Florida so we grow garlic over the winter. It is generally an evergreen here, the temperature rarely dropping below the low twenties for just a few hours. I've never seen garlic harmed by the cold in this part of the world. My aunt who was a wonderful Gardener advised me that I should plant garlic on the shortest day of the year and harvest it on the longest day of the year. In this part of the world, that works out pretty well, although typically I plant it earlier then late December, I normally plant in late September to mid-October, whenever I plant my winter greens. I tried different varieties in Florida, and end up planting a lot of elephant garlic and some generic grocery store garlic that has a little bit of a purple cast to the skins. I recently started using some mulch to try to keep the weeds down, but in North Florida, believe it or not there are winter weeds that put a little pressure on the garlic plants. Good luck with your garlic! I can't wait to see how it turns out.

[@WhatWeDoChannel]

Very interesting! You are well on the way towards becoming a commercial garlic operation. I have been growing garlic for many years for my wife and I. I humbly recommend you sign up to The Garlic News, a quarterly publication connecting the Canadian garlic network. It would help you to be ready for things like the Leak Moth, nematodes and fungus. It would give you an idea of where to market your crop and the sort of condition garlic should be in to sell for a good price! Take care Klaus

[@barneyrubble4293]

I can't tell if your joking or if there really is a Canadian Garlic Network and thriving garlic enthusiast community

[@WhatWeDoChannel]

Barney Rubble I was perfectly serious! Unfortunately the publisher of The Garlic News, Paul Pospisil recently succumbed to cancer and the publication is no more! There still is a thriving garlic community out there, usually small farms and dedicated home growers but not really connected any more! Hopefully someone will step up to the plate! Klaus

[@VagabondAnne]

Good on you for figuring out that long straight rows are not always the most efficient option. Next time you are thinking about digging up some raised beds, you might consider the round mandala configuration, which minimizes pathway space, and walking/tending distance for humans, while maximizing reachable planting space. It's a permaculture concept, possibly explained best in "Gaia's Garden" by Toby Hemenway, and it's a great idea for high-maintenance veggies (summer annuals, for example).