Do you want to learn more about gardening methods? Check out our information pages.
We are sure that you will be happy with our high quality organic seed garlic and cooking garlic. If you are not satisfied with your order we will cheerfully replace your garlic order or refund the purchase price.
Organic Garlic Research
We research effective methods of organic garlic production. Currently we are researching organic garlic weed control. See below for details.
Grey Duck Garlic Farm Field Day
On July 25, 2009 Grey Duck Garlic had a free organic farm field day. We were happy that Rural Roots members, Master Gardeners and other interested people were able to come see our farm. In the two hour presentation, Susan discussed our current research project that is funded by the Organic Farming Research Foundation, “Effectiveness and economic impact of weed control systems in organic garlic production”, organic weed control methods, and how to grow organic garlic. We also gave out handouts on these topics. Chris demonstrated the tools and equipment he uses to help grow great garlic. We really enjoyed interacting with other interesting people and sharing our love of garlic!
Here are some pictures from our field day.
Susan leads the group out into the garlic field to check out the organic weed control trials.
Chris discusses garlic growing equipment (some of which he designed).
Grey Duck Garlic's Organic Farming Research
Grey Duck Garlic has a research grant from the Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF). Our grant ‘Effectiveness and economic impact of weed control systems in organic garlic production’ begin in the summer/fall of 2008.
Effectiveness and economic impact of weed control systems in organic garlic production
Abstract
Organic gourmet hardneck garlic (Allium sativum L.) is extremely labor intensive. Almost all work must be done by hand to preserve crop quality and extend storage life.
The most labor intensive aspect of hardneck garlic growing is weeding. Weed control is time consuming for several reasons. First, garlic’s nine to ten month growing season forces growers to combat multiple flushes of emerging annual weeds. Garlic must compete with winter annuals as well as spring and summer annuals. In addition to annual weeds, perennials such as field bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis), Canadian thistle (Cirsium arvense) and quackgrass (Agropyron repens) can also be a problem. Second, garlic plants emerge slowly in the spring and never form a canopy to discourage weed growth. Due to their short upright leaves, even vigorously growing healthy garlic cannot outcompete weeds.
Weeds in Allium crops such as garlic are a major problem. Weeds compete for available nutrients and water. Taller weeds block the crop’s access to light. This can substantially reduce garlic growth and yield. According to Agamalian and Kurtz (1989), poorly controlled weeds may cut garlic yields in half. In addition, heavy stands of weeds can reduce air movement around the crop. This can promote diseases such as neck rot.
Since weed control is dependent on effective integrated farming systems not single components we decided to focus on both pre- and post-emergence weed control. This study will examine the effectiveness of a combination of pre-emergence and post-emergence weed reduction techniques on organic garlic production. Pre-emergence weed control includes either solarization or stale seedbed technique, while post-emergence weed control compares hand weeding with flame weeding. Two commercial organic hardneck garlic varieties, Georgian Crystal and German Red, will be used. Economic analysis will be conducted using cost of labor, cost of materials and value of crop for each weeding technique. Yield will be measured using total marketable bulb weight. Value of yield will include bulb size and weight.
The taste that inspires passion