I go with the larger clove theory, so when I break my heads at planting time, I end up with a pile of smaller cloves most of which I peel, slice and dry for garlic powder, and some is roasted for our annual garlic and Italian bread feast.
The heads I don't break for planting I leave hanging in the basement still attached to their stalk and I've had it keep well into April this way. When I used to trim them and put them in a basket or onion bag, they were barely usable by December and dried up shells by January. I do the same thing with my onions and shallots now and they keep much longer as well.
New seed stock is not cheap, but if you don't have to start from scratch each year you eventually reach a payback point. Plus with the hardnecks if you are a scape lover, you'll make your money back even faster -- I've seen bunches of 10-12 scrawny scapes selling for as much as $3-4 around here.
This past year was a bad one between the mild winter during which mine sprouted and was frost killed twice followed by a very wet June. So this year is another small investment year for me.
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