[kirpi]

My autumn planting garlic bulbs have arrived and the bed I need to put them in is still planted with dwarf beans and a couple of squashes that are near maturing and dying off so not long before the bed is free - just not immediately.
I am wondering about just dibbing the garlic cloves into the bed anyway as they will overwinter before they start to show through and I will clear the bed by cutting the top growth of beans and squashes off rather than hoeing or digging. Is this overlap a reasonable plan do you think?
I will be top dressing this bed with homegrown compost and wood ash from the winter hearth and letting the worms pull it down so nutrient balance should be ok when the garlic needs it next year.

[Kristen]

My autumn planting garlic bulbs have arrived and the bed I need to put them in is still planted with dwarf beans and a couple of squashes that are near maturing and dying off so not long before the bed is free - just not immediately.

No rush, yet!, to plant Autumn Garlic - October will do.

I am wondering about just dibbing the garlic cloves into the bed anyway as they will overwinter before they start to show through and I will clear the bed by cutting the top growth of beans and squashes off rather than hoeing or digging. Is this overlap a reasonable plan do you think?

It sounds OK to me, except that they need to be pretty close together (well ... "don't have to be" but "normally would be" ) and you might struggle to get in & under the foliage to achieve that.

Starting them off in 3" pots / modules (if you get desperate for time) would be fine too, then transplant out as soon as the plot is ready.

[kirpi]

Thanks - yes I thought about starting them off in 3" pots as well but didn't know if I wanted to encourage them to sprout this side of winter?

[Kristen]

didn't know if I wanted to encourage them to sprout this side of winter?

Depends on the type, but if they are autumn planting then they will sprout before Crimbles anyway. Don't put the pots in the greenhouse - don't want to make them soft, plus it is the cold that makes them "clove"

[kirpi]

Thank - I think I'll pot them up outside in the yard where I can keep an eye on them and transplant in when I can.