Your avg first frost date is more important than your zone in this situation - that will tell you how much time you have for something else to mature. Compute the time of your garlic harvest date to your FFD and then compare to the days to maturity for various crops.
I harvest my garlic in mid- to late July and my FFD is usually in early October, which is a fairly short window for most things. I've tried carrots, beets and head lettuce in the past. Carrots definitely don't get big enough. Beets are okay but end up on the small side. Lettuce doesn't have enough time to head up. This year I'm trying fall radishes instead - Watermelon and China Rose are longer DTM varieties that store well over the winter. Other options for me are leaf lettuce and spinach.
I read something today that suggested brussels sprouts as a mid-summer planting since they tolerate the weather and can be harvested well into December here. I might try that too.
Just in case- you can overwinter carrots outside in some zones and they grow bigger & sweeter! I plant all mine out in fall and let them have the bed space between my other cold hardy crops.
I like to edge beds with garlic. It's not leafy enough to shade anything out, and then the bed is free for whatever.
If I'm lucky, a deer will take a bite out of it and decide not to come back to the bed.
I usually harvest garlic about June or July and it ends up being too hot here at that time to successfully get a potato crop going. I’ve had success though with summer squash after garlic. You could also use the space for your fall crops as well. Cabbage, broccoli, beets, carrots, kale, lettuce, peas, Swiss chard, Brussels sprouts and more. But if your summer isn’t too hot an early potato may give you a modest harvest.
This is one reason why I love garlic, most of the time it's in the ground when other crops aren't then you can plant a lot of crops after them or even as they mature. You can sow carrots between them for example in June as they mature. I've also sown sprouting broccoli and kale in early June to plant out as small plants after the garlic. Also kohl rabi, fennel, lettuce, endives, herbs like cilantro, chervil, parsley.
I don't know about potatoes, where I am they would get late blight. I do sow some in August in pots to grow so I can have some new potatoes for my Xmas dinnner, the pots are handy as I can move them into the greenhouse to grow. I can get frosts as early as late September, but sometimes not till december. You should be able to buy second crop potatoes to try
I harvest garlic in mid July (zone 5b) and then first frost is around October 15, which is when I'll plant next year's garlic. That's a 3 month idle window. I take geranium cuttings in May and get them started in my grow room. When I harvest the garlic, I put the surviving cuttings in the ground to get some good outdoor growth before I put them up for the winter. Garlic gets fairly heavily fertilized and the geraniums seem to love getting ahold of that soil and putting on good growth in that short window.
I have done bush beans, zucchini, cabbage, broccoli and carrots. Last year I started a flat of zinnias from seed and then planted them the next day after harvesting the garlic. They were gorgeous in the late summer when my earlier ones were getting mildew.
Hello! I have a little market garden and the most useful thing I’ve found to follow garlic is Swiss chard. It grows quickly enough if you water it well to provide lots of leafy greens for September. I have the starter plants ready to go in as soon as the garlic comes up.
I’m in 8b so it’s probably longer to the first frost, but it will survive lighter frosts. I throw a length of frost blanket over it if we’re expecting cold temperatures to keep it as nice looking as possible. There’s also a time period after some frosts where it’s too ugly to sell at markets but still works just fine for us in soups.
Your zone doesn't matter - that's for perennials. Where are you located and what is your average first frost date?
Knowing that will define the time you have left in your growing season and you can plant accordingly.
My recommendation would be a cover crop of cowpeas to help drive N back into the soil ahead of a fall brassica planting. You could also do a quick stand of buckwheat before fall carrots.
I’m in 6b and I’m in the same boat, hello fellow garlic friend.
I’m going to save my garlic plot purely for flowers. Flowers are an underrated part of a garden, IMO. They can bring color and good moods and good bugs. I plant Good Bug Seed usually just to draw in ladybugs and assassin bugs and hopefully some praying mantis!
In another thread someone recommended planting garlic in the empty space around trees. I’m thinking about it next Fall. I can’t plant anything else around my oak trees I might as well try garlic!
Your avg first frost date is more important than your zone in this situation - that will tell you how much time you have for something else to mature. Compute the time of your garlic harvest date to your FFD and then compare to the days to maturity for various crops. I harvest my garlic in mid- to late July and my FFD is usually in early October, which is a fairly short window for most things. I've tried carrots, beets and head lettuce in the past. Carrots definitely don't get big enough. Beets are okay but end up on the small side. Lettuce doesn't have enough time to head up. This year I'm trying fall radishes instead - Watermelon and China Rose are longer DTM varieties that store well over the winter. Other options for me are leaf lettuce and spinach. I read something today that suggested brussels sprouts as a mid-summer planting since they tolerate the weather and can be harvested well into December here. I might try that too.
Just in case- you can overwinter carrots outside in some zones and they grow bigger & sweeter! I plant all mine out in fall and let them have the bed space between my other cold hardy crops.
That's what I thought and I tried it last year, but mine bolted pretty quickly (it was a hot spring).
Yes, but if the summer is super hot they won't grow, they'll just bloom....happened to me two years in a row. Guess the climate is changing?
Mine are harvested by April!
There’s time to get some bush beans or early squash in and get a good harvest. That’s what I did last year.
I like to edge beds with garlic. It's not leafy enough to shade anything out, and then the bed is free for whatever. If I'm lucky, a deer will take a bite out of it and decide not to come back to the bed.
I usually harvest garlic about June or July and it ends up being too hot here at that time to successfully get a potato crop going. I’ve had success though with summer squash after garlic. You could also use the space for your fall crops as well. Cabbage, broccoli, beets, carrots, kale, lettuce, peas, Swiss chard, Brussels sprouts and more. But if your summer isn’t too hot an early potato may give you a modest harvest.
I planted kale in between my garlic and after harvesting the garlic the kale really got going. It’s still going strong! It overwintered really well.
This is one reason why I love garlic, most of the time it's in the ground when other crops aren't then you can plant a lot of crops after them or even as they mature. You can sow carrots between them for example in June as they mature. I've also sown sprouting broccoli and kale in early June to plant out as small plants after the garlic. Also kohl rabi, fennel, lettuce, endives, herbs like cilantro, chervil, parsley. I don't know about potatoes, where I am they would get late blight. I do sow some in August in pots to grow so I can have some new potatoes for my Xmas dinnner, the pots are handy as I can move them into the greenhouse to grow. I can get frosts as early as late September, but sometimes not till december. You should be able to buy second crop potatoes to try
I harvest garlic in mid July (zone 5b) and then first frost is around October 15, which is when I'll plant next year's garlic. That's a 3 month idle window. I take geranium cuttings in May and get them started in my grow room. When I harvest the garlic, I put the surviving cuttings in the ground to get some good outdoor growth before I put them up for the winter. Garlic gets fairly heavily fertilized and the geraniums seem to love getting ahold of that soil and putting on good growth in that short window.
I have done bush beans, zucchini, cabbage, broccoli and carrots. Last year I started a flat of zinnias from seed and then planted them the next day after harvesting the garlic. They were gorgeous in the late summer when my earlier ones were getting mildew.
Beans since it'll help with N. FIL used buckwheat, which I couldn't find locally at the time in August. Definitely plan ahead.
In 5b, I plant my fall brassicas.
Hello! I have a little market garden and the most useful thing I’ve found to follow garlic is Swiss chard. It grows quickly enough if you water it well to provide lots of leafy greens for September. I have the starter plants ready to go in as soon as the garlic comes up. I’m in 8b so it’s probably longer to the first frost, but it will survive lighter frosts. I throw a length of frost blanket over it if we’re expecting cold temperatures to keep it as nice looking as possible. There’s also a time period after some frosts where it’s too ugly to sell at markets but still works just fine for us in soups.
I go all in on sunflowers
Usually parsnips. Havest them in the spring.... super sweet
Your zone doesn't matter - that's for perennials. Where are you located and what is your average first frost date? Knowing that will define the time you have left in your growing season and you can plant accordingly. My recommendation would be a cover crop of cowpeas to help drive N back into the soil ahead of a fall brassica planting. You could also do a quick stand of buckwheat before fall carrots.
I’m in 6b and I’m in the same boat, hello fellow garlic friend. I’m going to save my garlic plot purely for flowers. Flowers are an underrated part of a garden, IMO. They can bring color and good moods and good bugs. I plant Good Bug Seed usually just to draw in ladybugs and assassin bugs and hopefully some praying mantis! In another thread someone recommended planting garlic in the empty space around trees. I’m thinking about it next Fall. I can’t plant anything else around my oak trees I might as well try garlic!
Fall crops for me, specifically things that will come out by mid-November to make room for next year's garlic cloves to go in.