When I plant my garlic, I plant the cloves 4" apart in either direction, so that there is basically a 4" square in between four garlic plants, my question would be, could I plant say spinach or mustard greens in those 4" squares?

I know that garlic doesn't like competion from weeds, so would this be like a weed groing in the garlic bed? Or could I plant them 6" apart and be able to get away with it?

I really hate to see that space go to waste especially since the garlic is in the ground for such a long time. I like to put as much in a bed as possible, especially for diversity. I make my beds work overtime, but I also reward them generouslly as well with lots of compost and worm castings and such.

Also, if I put the spinach in there, I would probably add a hoop house over the bed. We don't have terribly severe winters, but it would keep the spinach growing at a good pace. It would also help the garlic if we get a winter like we had last year were it rained every day for a month. The garlic hated it and started showing yellow tips before spring even came.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Kenya