I'm planting garlic for the first time this year too...Apparently if you harvest them early you get those big single-bulb ones that don't need peeling because they're soft!

BTW - do you get frost where you are? If you do, it's too late to plant butternut. The pumpkin vines will start dying as soon as the frost hits them. Corn is usually planted in spring or early summer for a summer crop too.