As I said before, garlic needs to be cured, it gets it's best flavor (and is easier to peel) once it's been cured. To cure garlic you want to leave it in an airy place out of direct sunlight. The photo above shows the garlic I'm curing on my plant light shelves. I grew 3 different kinds this year so each level holds a different variety. I want to keep them separated so i know which is which, because I'm going to use some of them to replant this fall for next years crop. You want to harvest your garlic when at least 1/2 the leaves are brown, but you want to leave those stalks on the garlic as it cures. Once the stalks are totally brown and dried you can cut them off. You want to leave the stalks on because they still have some energy in them and the garlic uses it to help it cure. On the right is some of my music garlic, the cloves are huge!  They are curing in my bedroom! I'm going to have to make more room because i have another 120 heads coming in this weekend. I grew a lot of garlic this year, so i hopefully have enough to replant this fall, and to use throughout the year.

This photo shows one of my heads of music garlic. I put a quarter for size comparison. I love large cloves of garlic, means less peeling. Music garlic stores really well, which is one reason i grow it. I love the german red garlic, i think it's one of the best tasting hard neck garlics. It doesn't store incredibly well though, about 6 months. The music can store up to a year, so once i've used all my german red, i'll start in on the music. I like to grow soft necks as well, because they store the longest. Finding a variety that does well in the northeast is a challenge, but there are a few that do fairly well; polish softneck, susanville are two that can handle our cold winters fairly well. The failure rate is a bit higher than with the hard neck garlics, but the storage length makes it worth doing. You'll need a higher layer of mulch over them, so keep that in mind when planting. Garlic likes to be stored in a cool dry environment. Unlike some vegetables which like it cool and moist, these want it dry, like onions.