Did you know that Minnesota garlic is planted in the fall? Yep! We plant garlic in mid to late October because it allows the garlic to get established quicker in the spring and results in larger, better garlic bulbs. Garlic is routinely one of the first crops to pop up in the spring and we love seeing those bright green rows in the early spring!
Garlic bed prep starts now! Today we used our tractor and chisel plow to work up an area where we had planted cover crops. The chisel plow helps to break up compacted soil below the surface without totally inverting the soil structure. It will allow water and nutrients to penetrate lower into the soil profile. It will also allow our garlic roots to access those nutrients deeper in the soil profile.
We'll let this ground rest for 2-3 weeks before we continue with our prep. Next steps include spreading fertilizer followed by shallowly tilling the soil to smooth things out. This will also kill any remaining cover crops and weeds and give our garlic a great start for next season!
