Hi Phantom,

We live in the Bay Area (about 25 miles S of San Francisco on the coast) and are going into our 4th season growing garlic in our raised beds and wine barrels (we planted 400 bulbs last year but lost at least half the harvest to white rot ... another sore topic). So to answer your questions:

1. We buy many varieties of garlic primarily from filareefarm.com and our favorite, "Kettleriver", from thegarlicstore.com. Also great are the "Inchelium Red" (softneck) and "Armenian" (hardneck). I highly recommend the book "The Great Garlic Book" by Chester Aaron to give you a delightful introduction to the stinking rose. Aaron's book has beautiful illustrations and his writing will convince you to put garlic in every single meal you prepare. (I don't recommend mixing it w/ pineapple though!)

2. Hardneck garlics (allium ophioscorodon) produce a flower stalk called a "scape" and produce gorgeous bulbs (normally smaller than softnecks) with a single circle of cloves that easily break off the center stalk with a twist. Softnecks (allium sativum) are believed to have evolved from hardnecks. These include your supermarket "Silverskins" and are often chosen for their longer shelflife (10-12 months) - another characteristic of softnecks. It can take pages to explain the differences but this should get your started and hopefully understand that both types produce great varieties! Aaron will give you the nitty-gritty. "Growing Great Garlic" by Ron Engeland is another must-read for garlic-lovers.

3. To keep them from sprouting too early, you might consider keeping them in a dry, dark place at about 55F.

4. Garlic is normally planted in the autumn before the ground hardens, and harvested in the summer so for TN, you probably put them in the ground at the right time. We have planted supermarket garlic in our area before and have had pretty decent luck with them -- even braiding them. Just remember that garlic love sun!

5. We have 6 wine barrels (standard kind you can find in CA drug or hardware stores) sawed in half (so figure at least an 18" soil depth) and plant 12 seeds per barrel. Apart from the darned white rot (any advice here is most appreciated), garlic has thrived both in our raised beds and barrels. Incidentally, we plant bush beans once we harvest our garlic in June/July to fix nitrogen back in the soil for the next season! See the URL below to see hubby all set to harvest garlic out of the wine barrel :-)and some photos of the varieties we've grown. My dad was experimenting with his new digital Nikon so these images look slick.

The varieties we've liked and tested apart from the above were: Xian, Siberian, Russian Red Toch, Spanish Roja, Chesnok, Polish Hardneck, Music, Shandong -- and a few others. But we love the Kettleriver and Armenian best. Be aware that different varieties will thrive in certain climates, e.g. Spanish Roja generally like cold winters so we're not very successful with them here in the Bay Area.

Good luck! Get ready for 40-Clove Chicken (or Tofu) this summer!

Gigi

Here is a link that might be useful: Garlic in Wine Barrels and 2006 Varieties