Try growing potatoes in a garbage can. There is a great gardening video on the Old Farmer's Almanac website about growing potatoes in a garbage can. Here is the link:

http://www.almanac.com/gardening

Look for the lady standing in the garbage can in the list of videos.

Potatoes should have been in the ground by August 15 but if you're going early varieties you might try some. Garlic is planted mid-September to mid-October. Since you're a bit north of me, you might want to plant the early dates.

Here is a link that might be useful: Collin county planting dates.

Recently I bought some garlic at the local farmer's market and now I'm convinced I need to grow my own. Which is really kind of silly as I grew a lot of herbs this year and gave almost all of it to my sister -- who actually cooks. I live alone and don't cook all that often. I know I can dry or freeze the stuff, but I knew she would love, love, love to have them -- especially the Thai basil which she can't even find plants of. So growing garlic probably is another silly project, but I wanna try it anyway.

so. . . where do I get starts? seems like the local places have it in the spring, but I'm not sure I remember seeing starts for garlic (or potatoes) in the fall. Am I going to have to order it online? If so, anyone know a good reliable (and hopefully inexpensive) source?

Oh and all my herbs are in very large pots right by the back door. I will probably do the same with the garlic. I have drippers on them so I know they won't suffer unduly because of my reluctance to face the heat or humidity. Will garlic do okay this way?

Before I ever heard anything about the "right" time to plant garlic, I had some store bought garlic in the fridge that started to sprout. I planted it in July just to see what would happen. It didn't do anything that fall, but the next spring, I had the most gorgeous garlic. I dug them up, except one that got missed, and dug it up this spring. It was just bigger, but just as good. So I don't think it really matters when you plant garlic. Wait long enough and it will grow up.

I am in the TX hill country, and was planning on planting garlic this fall (I am glad you mentioned when to plant!) . I know you can get it online, but we just bought some California garlic from Costco and we're going to try planting that in a raised bed out in our veggie garden.
i hope it works! Its worth a shot anyway, I guess :p

I planted elephant garlic early last Nov 09 and by early summer 2010, I had a very large crop of good cloves. Not all cloves will always be the giant size, but some are. Mine was given to me by someone who had it along the side of their house and didn't want it. Elephant garlic (actually a leek) is one of the milder of all garlics, so others might prefer a stronger garlic.
marti8a, you're somewhat correct. Just plant it when you're ready and you'll eventually have a garlic crop. It just might be the next year. In the heat of summer is not a good time though. It prefers cooler temps. Once you see those big round flower heads on tall spikes, you'll know it's ready.
As far as supermarket garlic, first of all, you have no idea of which variety you're getting (there are many). Elephant garlic is the only one that's normally named on the package. Secondly, supermarket garlic is often treated with a chemical to inhibit sprouting, so this would be no good for planting. But if the inhibitor is only on the outside skin, you might could peel it off to get rid of it.
I'm including a good information link from a garlic farmer in the Brownwood/Bangs area who raises just about every variety and you can order seed garlic from him.

Here is a link that might be useful: Gourmet Garlic Gardens

I planted my garlic last fall, and I harvested it in late spring, when the leaves had toppled over. However, all the heads were relatively small and I was disappointed. I ordered from Gourmet Garlic, and bought varieties they recommended for our area. I had mulched with leaves and I used a dry organic fertilizer at plant out, but nothing after the initial planting. My bed is ammended annualy with leaves, compost, rabbit manure and other organic materials. Can someone please tell me what I did wrong? I want to try again this year, and would appreciate some feedback.
Thanks,
Susan