Garlic is a great place to start as a new gardener. First, to raise a successful crop, you must know if hardneck or softneck garlic is best for your climate.

The garlic will emerge in spring. Hardneck varieties will put up a stalk called a scape in early to midsummer. Scapes can get all zany and curly; some even put them in flower arrangements.

Other than scapes, hardneck garlic is notable for the bulbils or mini-bulbs that it forms on scapes when they are left unharvested. Depending on the hardneck variety, as many as 200 bulbils can ...

Garlic should be planted between Oct. 1 and Nov. 15 to give the clove a chance to develop some roots before it goes dormant for the winter. Separate cloves from the bulb and plant root side down ...

Refrigerate hardneck garlic for four to eight weeks—the longer, the better—for spring planting. Softneck varieties need less chilling but benefit from three to four weeks of cold.

Hardneck garlic has outstanding flavor, and is highly recommended for making salad dressings and pressed fresh over vegetables. It is also delicious when baked or eaten raw for health benefits.

NOTE: Hardneck garlic is a two for one deal: scapes and cloves. The ideal time to remove garlic scapes is when they start to curl — usually around mid-May to mid-June, ...