I finished the garlic planting this week. We had made the decision to invest in about $800 worth of organic seed garlic, and it finally came last week. My thinking is pretty simple here: I want to plant the garlic on raised beds, as our wet winters could lead to rot. To accomplish this, I used the Super Dexta (now with a rebuilt engine and running well) and a middlebuster plow to make the raised mounds you see in the photo above. The mounds are about 12 inches wide, which is a bit too narrow to squeeze two rows of garlic, so we went with a single row in the middle of the mound for this year. This is not the most efficient use of space, and it will require more weeding next year than ideal, but it is the most efficient use of our current equipment. In the future, I want to invest in a toolbar that I can use to create raised beds that are 3-4 feet wide, so I can get 4-5 rows of garlic in each bed. For now, this will work.
I planted using a dowel to make holes, put a clove in, cover the hole, move six inches, and repeat. In the future, I want to build a roller that can make the holes for me, but I want to make it so it will work with the eventual shape of the 3-4 foot wide raised beds. It's important to keep costs in mind--it's cheaper right now to use brute labor rather than investing in expensive equipment. When I invest in equipment, I want a clear plan of how it will pay for itself over time.
I waffled on mulching the beds, as I had mulched in the past with no problems, but the more I read, the more I became concerned about mulch causing rot problems in our wet winters. The main advantage of mulch is insulation to protect the garlic shoots, and we don't get a lot of severe freezes. In the end, I didn't mulch, but I will spread compost in the spring, and am trying to decide if I should put some lime down now. The rows are spaced so I can get my manure spreader in without a problem.
If all goes well, we'll turn about 50 pounds of garlic, in five varieties, into more than 200 pounds next year.
I planted using a dowel to make holes, put a clove in, cover the hole, move six inches, and repeat. In the future, I want to build a roller that can make the holes for me, but I want to make it so it will work with the eventual shape of the 3-4 foot wide raised beds. It's important to keep costs in mind--it's cheaper right now to use brute labor rather than investing in expensive equipment. When I invest in equipment, I want a clear plan of how it will pay for itself over time.
I waffled on mulching the beds, as I had mulched in the past with no problems, but the more I read, the more I became concerned about mulch causing rot problems in our wet winters. The main advantage of mulch is insulation to protect the garlic shoots, and we don't get a lot of severe freezes. In the end, I didn't mulch, but I will spread compost in the spring, and am trying to decide if I should put some lime down now. The rows are spaced so I can get my manure spreader in without a problem.
If all goes well, we'll turn about 50 pounds of garlic, in five varieties, into more than 200 pounds next year.
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