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  • From: "Adriana" <adriana AT chefsgreens.com>
  • To: <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [Market-farming] Garlic in straw bales?
  • Date: Mon, 13 Nov 2006 16:02:44 -0600

I'm not a garlic grower but I wonder if this would not work for small scale operations. Lay stray bales, cut side up on the ground, over the beds where you would normally plant your garlic. Insert the cloves into the straw. Wet the bales well, then cover them with plastic mulch to protect them from additional rain over the next couple of weeks. This way you do not have to work the soil at all and eventually the roots will make it through the bale and into the soil. The plastic will offer some temperature protection as well. As the bale breaks down it will enrich the beds for next year.

For an article on straw bale culture go to http://www.nicholsgardennursery.com/strawbales.htm

It's possible that you need only a couple of inches of depth to accomplish the same thing, in which case I would consider breaking the bale into 2-3" deep squares. Lay one square on the ground put your cloves on top and then cover with an additional square. It would certainly make a bale of straw go much farther. If you had planned to mulch the beds then you are ahead of the game.

Adriana Gutierrez


I wouldn't give up yet. I have gotten a decent crop from garlic planted
in midNovember. (I did manage, finally, to get my own in this year,
much to my relief; most got in October 26 & 27 and the last of it on
November 2. The ground was really a little too wet; but I doubted that
it was going to be any dryer.)




  • [Market-farming] Garlic in straw bales?, Adriana, 11/13/2006

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