Although it was tempting to use the fattest, juiciest cloves for cooking, I saved the best of this year's harvest to plant again for next year. I read somewhere that garlic readily adapts to your soil, so it's good practise to save the best to plant again for the following year, to develop a big, strong, healthy crop.
A while back, a friend of mine was returning to Australia and kindly left me with several bulbs. Some perished in my wet heavy ground, but two bulbs did remarkably well. It's from these that this year's harvest came, but being very bad at labelling, I have no idea what variety they are, so I've come to refer to them as my 'Aussie garlic'.
In addition to these, I've also purchased a couple of new bulbs this year, to see how they compare, a French variety called 'Germidour'. Apparently well suited to British conditions with a mild, rich flavour.
To try and minimise the risk of rotting, I've dug bigger holes than normal for planting, and added a mix of seed compost / sharp sand / grit. The cloves were positioned on this mix, in the hope that any water will drain past the bulb instead of puddling. I left the points about an inch from the surface, backfilled with compost and gently raked over.
Should be ready for lifting next June :)
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