I've never planted or harvested "by the moon stages", but have known a few old-timers that did. According to them (and their almanac) there was a proper time of the moon to plant root crops, leafy crops, etc. as well as a proper time to harvest. Harvesting garlic during new moon is probably supposed to increase storage time.

Martin, I harvested the garlic you sent me. (Thank you, thank you, thank you!) First the problems. The winter was depressingly dry, and my garden only got watered about once a month. I know that stunts garlic growth, from my past attempts to grow Spanish Roja. Then my darling 4 year old twins helped me in my garden by removing the plant labels, so I'm not sure of several varieties that I grew this year. The garlic in the flower bed out front were all Asian Tempest, so I'm sure of those. My step-dad, who does the cooking in my parents' home, was quite impressed with the bite, and with the size of the heads. Definitely will grow again. Purple Glazer still had its lable somehow. Those heads were about the same size as the Spanish Roja I have grown (small), and we haven't tasted them yet. (?) Giant, (maybe Russian Giant or Siberian Giant) is, well, huge, with large bulbils! Good flavor. Definitely will regrow. Martin's Heirloom, average size heads (remember, drought conditions), large bulbils, haven't tasted yet. Good production! Probably will plant again. Porcelain (?), average size heans, small bulbils, haven't tasted yet. Grocery store shallots, small bulbs, may grow again. Thanks again. I am passing along the Martin's Heirloom and (?) Giant to fellow gardeners in my neighborhood. Catherine

When a garlic scapes, it means it grows a flower stalk. The flower stalk is the scape. Hardnecks always scape while softnecks rarely do. The scapes are edible too. In fact, they are like a delicacy. If left on the plant bulbils will grow at the top of the scape. If you just want to experiment with growing garlic then you could plant the garlic you find in the grocery store (which is a softneck variety). This way you can try it out to see if you like it (which you will since it's easy to grow) and it will also keep the cost very low. If you find that you want to get more serious then you can spend the extra money on a named variety that you find in seed catalogs and online. Or you could check the local farmer's markets near where you live to see if you can find some named varieties. The first couple of times I planted garlic I used the grocery store kind (I learned quite a bit too). Rodney This post was edited by theforgottenone1013 on Thu, Jul 18, 13 at 20:03

My Rosle is around 8 years old, and it works and looks like new. My friend has a hardwood block, made by her dad, which I covet - it is kinda like having a pestle (but is a bigger cylinder - about 3" x 4") without using a mortar. She just smashes her garlic in the pan she is using. I love brickeyee's idea of using kosher salt to turn it into paste. And just last week did my first roasting of garlic, I can see the appeal!