That is still a lot of garlic. I’m surprised you can make it last long enough to use some for planting again. My homegrown garlic doesn’t last that long before it starts sprouting.
Mary
What kind of garlic are you growing Mary? There are two basic types, softneck and hardneck. Are you the one that said they plant store-bought?
Softnecks have more cloves but the individual cloves tend to be smaller. They tend to have larger cloves on the outside of the head and small cloves in the middle. They are generally not as flavorful as the hardneck but fresh garlic is nice anyway. In Arkansas I grew a softneck, the Silver Rose variety. Softnecks store better than hardnecks but as Zeedman said, do not break the heads apart until you are ready to use them or plant them. They are more likely to sprout if you break them apart. The stem is leaves that stay limber when you dry them. These can be woven into braids. Because they store better most store bought garlic is going to be softneck.
Hardnecks are kind of the opposite. Fewer cloves but they tend to be bigger. Flavor is an individual thing but hardnecks are supposed to have more. These send up a hard stem in the middle so they are harder to braid. They supposedly do not store as well.
How do yo store yours? The recommendations are dark and dry, not too cold. I let mine dry for several days after harvest, then hang them in an outbuilding that is dry and well-ventilated until the weather cools off. I have braided them but prefer hanging them with a string and slip-knot as Steve mentioned in that pepper thread. You don't want them to freeze so I then bring them into my attached garage and store them in hanging mesh bags before frost is predicted. They last well into spring.
With the softnecks they say to plant the larger outside cloves and not the interior small ones. Skeptical and cynical as I am I experimented, I planted the larger ones in one area and the smaller ones right next to them but on one end a couple of different years. I did not see any difference in productivity.
@Zeedman have you played with that? I did notice that if you plant them in a relatively thick bed, the ones in the middle did not produce nearly as well as the ones on the edges. I don't know if that is a competition for sunlight, nutrients, or water, maybe all three, but I learned to not crowd them too much.
I just buy them at the store.
