Amy
I had the same rain you did last week.Looks like we wont be getting any from the hurricane this week,its looks to be going mid Atlantic.Except for those few thunderstorms that may pop up over the next few days if heat I'm thinking my garlic leaves are not even to the half yellowed/dead stage and I have opted to wait it out a bit.When I think its time and more than half the leaves are dead/yellow I'll then if heavy rain or downpours are forecast decide whether they should be pulled or take the chance and wait until I have closer to 2/3 or 3/4 of the leaves yellowed and dead.
From my reading here and if I understand correctly it may be best to pull them now and hang them to dry.I'm sure other more experienced posters will post on this.
I'm only on my second serious year with the garlics so all I can say is good harvest to you wichever way you go with the garlic.
Bill

Thanks, Bill. This is my second year of garlic, too, but last year didn't quite count! I had a small share of a garlic sampler that a friend ordered, and planted--get this--on New Year's Eve day! It was unusually mild that December! It grew, but bulbs were, needless to say, on the small side. This year, I ordered 10 varieties from two sources--including 5# of Music! Anyway, I decided to split the difference. I dug 2# of Music, which was looking the most ready and was in the spot I most wanted to put something else into. The rest I'm going to hold off on for a while, since really they're also just at the 1/3 brown stage, so I'll let 'em dry out a bit more. Anyway, the Music I dug looked fine; the main "issue" being that a bit more damp dirt clung to the bottom of the bulbs at the roots than when I've dug from drier earth. I think they'll be fine. Good luck to you!

Let me throw a couple of thoughts into the equation.

First, the size of your bulbs had little to do with planting on New Year's Eve. It doesn't seem to matter when you plant it, if it has a cold-dormancy period, it matures at the same time. That is, if you had planted some in Oct, some in Nov, and the balance on New Year's Eve, it would all grow about the same.

There are several reasons why garlic produces small bulbs. One of them, simply enough, can be the variety. That is, maybe it's supposed to be small. But other than that, it was likely the growing conditions. Also, keep in mind that garlic often needs an adaption period. As it gets used to your conditions it reaches its full potential. This can take as much as three years, however, depending on the original source and growing conditions.

Now, as to your current problem. If the garlic is really ready to harvest, I would do so. Leaving mature garlic in wet ground can cause the wrappers to degrade, exposing the cloves. This, in turn, can lead to problems ranging from rot, to shorter keeping times.

So, if this was a freak storm, and you aren't likely to see a lot more rain, it may be safe to leave them. But if more heavy rains are in the forecast, it might be better to lift and cure them.