I love how purple it has become during drying

I planted two hardneck varieties. This is a semi new bed I have been converting from turf grass. I am not really able to till because it isn't far away from my water pipe. My soil is very sandy. I have been trying to build up organic matter in the soil, and last year it was a corn harvest that was also very minimal. I started laying in compost ( black kow from store- not great but I have only so much I can produce on my own system) I am also laying in 6"+ inches of straw from the ag station farm to build up my bed into a ruth stout style garden. I also typically interplant other crops to maximize my use of space as I am limited with my small garden and wild ambitions.

I water frequently in spring, and had a decent scape harvest. I planted in October and harvested third week of July. I am in zone 4a in northern Wisconsin.

Typically I grow potatoes first season then corn followed by garlic in season 3. and it just seems to be struggling. I had switched up my genetics from someone locally so the variety should be decently adapted to my area? Last year I had almost zero scapes.

Please help me with improvement suggestions. I really want to learn to do this better.

Cover crops to fix nitrogen?

Better crop rotations to fit my beds better?

I am aware I have a terrible harvest. Please be gentle

Just showing off my first attempt growing garlic. My German extra hardy did well. My chesnok red did alright. My inchelium red was kind of a flop. But I blame myself for underestimating my spring care timing/milestones. My heads seemed to be on the smaller side. But enough German and chesnok with cloves large enough to use for seed this fall. Learned a lot to apply to next year.

First are the browned ones two weeks ago. 50 head. My north side bed might get pulled this weekend or so. Another 20!

First two photos are the bulbs in question. Their stems are noticeably not as full as the rest. I’d cured them in my basement with a fan on them for the last 2 and a half weeks or so. It’s my first time growing garlic. Not sure if they were in the ground too long or if the humidity was just too high when curing or what. Any advice or tips are appreciated. I have them back on the wire rack with a fan on them currently. 3rd pic is the other part of the harvest for reference. I’d already thrown out two large bulbs that seemingly rotted as well. My garage has no airflow and I don’t have an outdoor shed or better place to cure them really. It’s Chesnok Red if that matters.

Just wanted to share a quick heads-up for anyone using store-bought garlic powder. There's an active product recall on certain lots right now. Make sure to check your pantries and verify your spice jars just to stay safe!

Не взирая на дождливую погоду, чеснок собран и отправлен на предварительную просушку. Неделю повисит и буду приводить его в божеский вид.

Has anyone tried storing garlic in straw or something like that? I’ve read to store in cool, dry place. But I don’t have an ideal cool, dry place.

I have a small suburban yard with limited space. I planted garlic in a raised bed last fall and harvested just fine this year. I've planted carrots in the empty bed a few weeks ago. After I harvest the carrots, can I then plant garlic again this fall in the same bed? Its not like I have another bed to use. Will the carrots in between help? Garlic is the one thing I would like to do yearly.

Alternatively, if I put in another raised bed and plant my second favorite crop, onions, can I just go back and forth, swapping the onions and garlic beds each year? I could plant a winter cover crop and another crop like beets or carrots in the onion bed after harvesting the onions in preparation for garlic the following fall.

Im in Colorado front range zone 5b, high elevation.

My hard neck garlic has usually sprouted a month or two before the next year's harvest comes in, so I'm wondering how else you all store your garlic. None of my preserving books have instructions for making garlic salt or garlic powder. I've read about blending it with butter and freezing it, but haven't tried it yet as we don't use a lot of butter.