I pulled the garlic from the gardens about 5 days ago. There were some in the trellis garden that were from last year, because we waited to long to pull the garlic. I didn't pull them out, I dug them out with a fork shovel. They were starting to go to seed so it was time to pull the garlic. I kept the two garden's crops separate as I wasn't sure which type was which and didn't want mix them up. I also left one head in each garden to go to seed, hopefully I can use that this fall to plant more garlic. I might still take which ever one we like and use a head or two to plant next year just in case the seeds don't work.
After letting the stocks dry a bit, yesterday I tried to braid the garlic to help with storage. It didn't go as planned, the video I saw had more flexible stocks and with the stiff ones that I have the last few did not cooperate very nicely. I found another video that talked about how to deal with stiff stocks of garlic. They suggested a couple methods, the first being to use a rolling pin or a rubber mallet to break the stock up a bit to make them more pliable. The other was to store the stocks in a wet towel for 24 hours before trying to braid them. I went with the rubber mallet method, and just a hit per section broke the stocks up enough to braid them more successfully. Below is the results of the labor. The ones on the left were from the trellis garden and my first attempt. The others are from the raised vegetable garden and the more successful try.
There a couple reason why the garlic is so much smaller on the left than the right. One is the garden that was used. The trellis garden doesn't get much light at least in the summer which might be part the problem with the garlic. The other is the breed of garlic that was used. I think next type I am going to try fertilizing them which should help in getting things to grow better.