It does seem that the more topsy-turvy weather conditions are the worst, whether spring or fall planting. Cold without snow cover... rain on top of snow also deadly
... or spring weather that is cold and dry.
I was looking at my garlic beds and took a picture, this made me realize that the New York White were not as well mulched as the others... and I vaguely remember I was running short when I put them in, and didn't give it too much thought. The kelp was more evenly covering until it starts to dry in the spring which shrinks it back quite a bit. But the NYW, which is on the left in the front row, obviously didn't get as much. Also there was more gracilaria, not as much kelp in the mix.
OTOH, my extra bed of Spanish Roja which was planted two weeks later, got mulched pretty scantily with alder leaves.. but evenly all the same, and they did fine. The leaves are mostly gone though, and they suffered more from dryness than the others. (I only watered once this spring before we got some rain).
I guess I'm wondering if I could do a better job with the mulch, but the truth is we are usually scrambling to find a mulch material and make do with what we can get in a hurry.
