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  • From: pam AT twinoaks.org
  • To: market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Market-farming] Re: Garlic woes
  • Date: Fri, 24 Dec 2004 11:41:06 -0500

Marlin Burkholder wrote:
> I'm from Virginia (zone 6) For the past number of years I have
> planted garlic in the fall at the normal time (mid Oct -mid Nov) and
> have either not mulched at all or mulched lightly with straw and
> consistently had successful crops. We often get windy weather here in
> the winter and spring so even if we do mulch, much of it gets blown
> away. As I write, my garlic has yet to be mulched and several days
> ago we had lows around 10 degrees F with 30 mph winds and wind chill
> indexes of well below 0 degrees. Typically we can expect cold spells
> where lows get down to minus 5 to 0 interspersed with warm spells
> where highs get up to the 60's and even low 70's during the winter
> months. This means alternate freezing and thawing of the soil and
> most snowfalls melting off within a week. I have yet to see
> significant damage to garlic tops exposed to subfreezing temperatures.
> I have seen some loss due to heaving of garlic plants especially if
> the garlic got planted late and didn't have good early root
> development. Intermittant freezing and thawing can cause heaving (the
> plant pushed upward out of the ground exposing part of the roots).

I'm in central Virginia, a mite warmer (=less cold) than where Marlin is.
Maybe this means more winter thawing and freezing. We've had 5" tall
green garlic die back to the ground in winter, then regrow at the first
opportunity. The yield was not the biggest, but it was OK.
Pam Dawling, Twin Oaks, VA, zone 6b/maybe 7







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