I think the hardnecks do store much better over a long period of time. I have some harvested last fall just now going bad. Proper storage is also essential. Elephant garlic (the big, soft stuff you normally find cheap in most markets) doesn't store well and God knows how old it is when you get it.

Michelle, it came from a place in WI. Very nice to deal with. Before I ordered they made sure everything I chose would do well here. Nice garlic, too. I ordered these hardnecks: Russian Red, German Red, Spanish Roja, Chesnock Red, Brown Tempest, Romanian Red, Siberian and two softnecks, Silver White and One they recommended, Simonetti. Ohiomom, it's that simple....I just toss whole peeled cloves and a little olive oil with my hands and roast them until they're light brown. Then I load them onto plastic wrapped cookie sheets, freeze and then dump them into freezer bags. I'm using the last of mine from a year ago and they're fine. Having them on pizza tonight. Terri, my biggest problem with the PC press is how far it shoots the garlic sometimes, lol. Here is a link that might be useful: http://wegrowgarlic.com/

"They are kinda slimy and gross looking as they thaw out, but they DO make wonderful banana bread!' I've always been more concerned with them being slimy and gross getting 'em INTO the freezer! I've been planning to do this anyway as i hate wasting food BUT always forget and then end up tossing them when the gnats start pounding on the door! there's also the thought in the back of my head that since I don't cook/bake much (almost never here) I figure I'll just get 'em frozen and end up tossing them in 2 yrs from the freezer! I really do plan to do this once I get settled in the new place tho - I'll have a regular stove/oven and I think it'd be a good way to have a healthier snack for me than a hostess cupcake or even a maple iced donut! the chicken - I don't get to Costco but when a local store (one of our lowest priced groceries) has their extra 10% off for seniors day I try to get there and buy some chicken to freeze. Lately I've been buying a pkg of chicken strips to bake and then I freeze them about six to a baggie (put 2 in, roll the bag over, put in 2 more, roll the bag again, repeat. I can usually get about 6 in the bag). That makes it easier for me to cook up and use. I can pull 1 or 2 strips out of the baggie to chop into enough chicken salad for a sandwich, toss in with my rice and veggies or even leftover noodles (cooked!) sent home with me by my sister. I also used them to feed my old girl when she wouldn't eat her dog food or an egg etc. I'd toss a chopped up strip into my small measuring cup with some water and mw it, then mix some of the juice with some of the pieces into her dog food - she gobbled that up! marti - that'd make it a lot easier for me! If I'd known that worked I'd probably have a few in the freezer now! I'll try that the next time one starts to turn before I've had a chance to eat it.

I cure my onions (copras), potato onions, garlics, tulips, and potatoes in a west facing screen porch that gets quite warm in the summer time. They all go from there right into my kitchen either braided or paper sacked and hung from one of those three tier produce baskets. The front porch is empty before the weather turns; so none of my stored alliums ever cools. My garlic very seldom sprouts, although eventually most cloves dry out, and the potato onions never do either. The potatoes don't last long enough to worry about. I also grow early butternut squash (Butterbush) and they cure out on the porch, and are stored after that in the kitchen also. My garlic harvest is normally the end of July into the beginning of August. Potatoes about then too; so they are cured before the weather cools off. Years ago back on the farm we cured our onions and potatoes on the north side of an empty corn crib, out of both sun and rain. That worked very well and was more or less the pattern I used to settle on curing my bulbs in my screen porch, which has also proven to a very good choice.