Project objectives were:

a) To determine which weed reduction system is the most economically effective by:

1) Determining total labor and material cost for each weed control system.

2) Determining effectiveness of each weed control system by recording percent weed species emergence and percent weed cover throughout the year.

3) Determining total garlic yield for each weeding system.

4) Determining garlic quality, as measured by bulb size, for each weeding system.

b) To disseminate the results obtained through this experiment to other organic producers through an article in HortScience or similar reputable journal, articles and handouts for Rural Roots and/or Master Gardeners, a farm field day, several informative power point research seminars for growers and researchers, information provided to county extension offices and inclusion of all results in Grey Duck Garlic’s website.

c) To promote organic agriculture and our research, we placed a large sign in front of the garlic field next to the road. This sign contains our business name, “Organic Garlic Weed Trials” and “Sponsored by Organic Farming Research Foundation” in large print.