by James Cooper, CFSA’s Local Produce Safety Coordinator
Have you ever wanted to grow a crop that you never have to irrigate or weed? Well, garlic is your new best friend in the garden! And this coming fall is the time to plant it.
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Garlic (Allium sativum) is a member of the lily family. There are two types of garlic – hardneck and softneck. Hardneck varieties may be purple, purple-striped, or white and represented by varieties such as Roja, German Red, Music, Siberian, Valencia, Continental and Creole. Softneck varieties are referred to as silverskin, artichoke, or Italian garlic and are represented by varieties such as California White, Silver Rose, New York White, Polish White and Inchelium Red. Hardneck varieties are more cold hardy and have a milder flavor than softneck.
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Garlic is planted in the fall and should be grown on raised beds, ideally in a sandy or clay loam soil that is well-drained and rich in organic matter. The soil needs to be allium free for at least three years prior to planting. The seed garlic bulbs should be taken apart into separate cloves not long before planting.
In general, a good guideline is to plant garlic when the soil temperature at 4” deep is 50 degrees F. In reality, a farmer’s schedule may not allow him or her to plant at the exact right time, but it’s important to be sure that you plant and mulch garlic early enough to establish a good root set before the ground freezes.
When planting garlic, hardneck varieties must be planted with points up and roots down. Softneck cloves can be planted any way up. I recommend planting with 4-6” spacing in the row and 8-10” between rows so that in a four foot wide bed, one would have four rows.
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Immediately upon planting add a 6-8 inch layer of organic mulch across the entire raised bed. The mulch prevents weed growth, retains moisture and keeps the soil cool in the warm seasons. Anticipate a yield ratio of 1:6, if you are planting one clove to get a bulb of 6 cloves.
The next step is to begin harvest in late spring early summer of the following year. Garlic harvest has three stages, garlic scapes/curls-early, green garlic-mid and mature bulb-late. Post-harvest handling requires proper dry storage, curing and air circulation.
Now that you have planted and tucked the garlic in for the winter, it’s is a great time to start getting your Food Safety Plan written so you are prepared for the coming spring and summer.
As CFSA Local Produce Safety Coordinator, I am here to offer growers assistance in obtaining GAP certification. CFSA offers one-on-one consultation to farmers to assist with on-farm risk assessment, mock audits, final reviews of food safety plans and we can be present during your GAP Audit. I look forward to working with you this winter!
Source: https://t-tees.com
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