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okay to pull garlic in loose soil rather than dig?

12 years ago

i've been growing garlic for a few years and always loosen the soil with a shovel to pop them out. however, in hopes for a quicker day of work, i tried pulling some without a shovel and they popped out looking perfect. is there a reason i shouldn't do this? i have raised, year round mulched gardens and thus the soil is mostly worm casting and worms for the top several inches. i researched this in the forums, but didn't find anything. thank you!

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Comments (3)

mav72
12 years ago
The goal is to loosen the soil so the tops dont break off. If the tops break off, the garlic usually won't store well...
Molly Adams
Original Author
12 years ago
well, i did go ahead and pull one of my beds and none of the tops came off...so i guess it's ok to do that?
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OldDutch (Zone 4 MN)
12 years ago
If your bed is mellow enough to pull without breaking off the tops, and the bulb skins are tough and mature enough not to scar, no reason not to just pull them. My beds are not dependably that mellow; so I loosen the bulbs before pulling them up.

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