Garlic/Cover Crop Question

[A. Lyric]

I'm trying cover crops in my raised beds for the first time. Garlic is the only thing I grow in fall and winter. What, if any, affect might a cover crop have on my garlic if they are in the same bed?

I've read garlic doesn't like weeds. So how is it gonna know the cover crops aren't weeds? Google is no help.

 

[pepper]

I don't know much about garlic but I assume they don't like anything crowding them regardless if it's weeds or a cover crop of something else growing. My understanding from the little bit I was reading is you use a cover crop before you plant the garlic, not with it. I have seen a lot of YouTube videos where people use straw around the garlic to control weeds and probably helps keep moisture in too.

 

[A. Lyric]

My understanding from the little bit I was reading is you use a cover crop before you plant the garlic, not with it.

I can't cover crop in summer because that's when I grow veggies in my two raised beds. I can put in a cover crop now to grow through the winter till early spring, but that's when I plant my garlic. Not sure what to do.

Anyway, glad I asked. Maybe somebody who grows garlic and cover crops can advise me. I don't want to give up either one, but will do what I need to do.

 

[Meadowlark]

I would first determine how much space is needed for the garlic? Set that amount aside and don't plant your cover there. Rotate it next year to a different space and so on.

I can't cover crop in summer because that's when I grow veggies in my two raised beds.

Of course, you can. Do you like beans? Green beans, shelled beans, etc. make great cover/rotation crops. Do you like black-eyed peas, purple hull, etc? Also make great summer cover/rotation crops. Sugar snap peas likewise and they are great companion planted with potatoes.

For example, you could plant some bush beans or whatever in the space vacated by your garlic next year and achieve production, rotation, and cover all at once.

The possibilities are endless and limited only by our imagination.

 

[pepper]

I can't cover crop in summer because that's when I grow veggies in my two raised beds. I can put in a cover crop now to grow through the winter till early spring, but that's when I plant my garlic. Not sure what to do.

Anyway, glad I asked. Maybe somebody who grows garlic and cover crops can advise me. I don't want to give up either one, but will do what I need to do.

You could grow it around the garlic, keeping a bit of distance. But any picture or video I see of people growing garlic it's always just rows of garlic with no weeds or anything else. But then again I grow some garlic that I never take care of it but it does okay. Not great but survives lol.

 

[A. Lyric]

I would first determine how much space is needed for the garlic? Set that amount aside and don't plant your cover there. Rotate it next year to a different space and so on

That's what I hoped to hear!

The possibilities are endless and limited only by our imagination.

And by our gardening experience and knowledge. My clover seeds are coming today and the elbon rye in a couple more days. In the meantime, I'm pulling everything out of my beds. Learning more about cover crops and green manure makes me excited
to get started. Thank you again!

 

[A. Lyric]

You could grow it around the garlic, keeping a bit of distance

Gonna do that! I thought I harvested enough garlic this fall to last through winter. But 3 evenings in a row my dinner consisted of a roasted head of garlic on crackers. (Fortunately, I didn't have company, lol.) I'd almost not grow any so I could thoroughly cover crop both beds, but I'd really miss it.

 

[Meadowlark]

... I'd almost not grow any so I could thoroughly cover crop both beds, but I'd really miss it.

No need just plan ahead to follow that garlic with a legume and you are in business no lost production and accomplished crop rotation. That's the best way to do it, that I know.

 

[A. Lyric]

No need just plan ahead to follow that garlic with a legume and you are in business no lost production and accomplished crop rotation. That's the best way to do it, that I know.

...and I do trust that you know!

 

[Ruderunner]

Brassica is supposed to get along with garlic.

But, most folks I know cover their garlic beds with damp fall leaves.

 

[smitty55]

Brassica is supposed to get along with garlic.

But, most folks I know cover their garlic beds with damp fall leaves.

That's all I ever use when I plant in November. In April/May when I notice them poking through the ground I remove all the leaves to warm up the soil faster and then once the plants are a foot tall I replace a lighter layer of leaves again till harvest.