"David Hare-Scott" wrote:

So if you actually grow garlic (compared with reading about it) when do
plant and harvest? What is the relationship to your seasons? What is your
climate like?

First of all, where are you? I'm guessing from the seasons stated that
you're in the southern hemisphere?

I grow a number of varieties of garlic in the northeastern U.S.; mostly
hardneck, but a few softneck. I plant in late October into early November,
which is a good month before the ground freezes to any degree. Winter lows
hit -10F to sometimes -20F or lower.
One point: unless you have pretty cold winters (substantial time below
freezing), many hardneck garlics will not do well; they need that dormant
period. It's always best to get your planting stock from as close to home
as possible.
You're welcome to look at my personal web page, in the .sig below for
spreadsheets and what information I've posted.

Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic
Zone 5/4 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G