Investigating planting dates and mulching efficacy on overwintered garlic in Interior Alaska

Commodities

• Agronomic: oats
• Vegetables: garlic

Practices

• Crop Production: cropping systems
• Education and Training: extension, on-farm/ranch research

While garlic is a potentially lucrative crop for Alaskan small farms, there are still key knowledge gaps regarding best practices for fall planting and overwinter protection, especially in Alaska’s interior region. The efficacy of mulching fall-planted garlic in northern regions is generally uncertain, whereas both producers and professionals in interior Alaska tend to plant fall garlic later, relative to seasonal changes, than growers in other northern parts of the United States and Canada. The purpose of this project is to determine if fall planting dates and mulching affect overwinter survival and yields of hardneck garlic in Alaska’s interior region. The experiment will span two years at two sites near Fairbanks, Alaska: Offbeet Farm and the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) Experiment Farm. Using two cultivars that performed well in UAF variety trials, the project team will measure overwinter survival rates and yields for garlic planted weekly, starting 8 weeks before the average freeze-up date in Fairbanks, in both mulched and un-mulched plots. Results from the experiment will be used to update the UAF Cooperative Extension Service (CES) publication “Growing Garlic in Alaska,” as well as produce a short video for the UAF Extension YouTube Channel. Such digital media are appropriate for the scattered geography of communities in northern Alaska. The team will also create an informational sign for the Georgeson Botanical Garden at UAF—which sees roughly 20,000 visitors each year—and a similar pamphlet distributed directly to farmers at farmers markets in the Fairbanks area. Additionally, the team will present the findings at the 2027 Alaska SARE conference. The project has the potential to increase revenue and viability of small farms in interior Alaska, as well as increase the availability of both commercially-grown and home-grown garlic in a notably food-insecure region.

Research objectives:

(1) Determine if fall planting date affects overwinter survival or yields of garlic in the interior region of Alaska and, if so, what range of dates delivers the best outcomes;

(2) Determine if mulching fall-planted garlic prior to winter affects its overwinter survival or yields in Alaska’s interior region.

Education objectives:

(1) Create a short educational video about best practices for growing garlic that will be hosted on the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) Extension YouTube Channel, and other social media accounts moderated by UAF Institute of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Extension (IANRE), as well as Offbeet Farm’s website and social media. 

(2) Update best practices for planting garlic in the UAF Cooperative Extension Service (CES) Publication “Growing Garlic in Alaska."

(3) Create and distribute a fact sheet to farmers at farmers markets in the Fairbanks area (which is the hub for all of northern Alaska).

(4) Create and install a sign with project results near the garlic research plots in the Georgeson Botanical Garden in Fairbanks, which receives 16,000 - 20,000+ visitors per year.

(5) Present findings at the 2027 Alaska SARE conference.