Harvesting Garlic and Onions

Having survived the winter surpisingly well my garlic and some onions are looking very promising.  Do I wait for the tops to start dying before harvesting or is it just a case of waiting for a particular date. (For instance I have read that garlic should be planted on the shortest day and harvested  on the longest). Thanks, your expert advice appreciated.

In a normal year you can expect  both to be ready from mid-June but, as Solway says, it may be a little later this year. You never know, we might get a heatwave.

Garlic is ready to lift and dry once the leaves have turned yellow. Do not wait for them to die off completely or they may start to rot in the ground or the outer skin of the bulb may split as it dries. You can lift some for use as green garlic a little before that, but not yet.

Onions you can pull for use at any stage but those that you want to keep must be left until the stems fall over. They must then be very throughly dried if they are going to keep.