Hi feet of Clay - not sure about the garlic, never tried it, but think I may know what happened to the basil. Jekka McVicar of herb farm fame gave a talk on growing basil at Gardeners World Live thingy. She was saying, among other interesting things, that when the basil is getting a bit past it and starting to flower (eat the flowers) then get some cheap olive oil and put the basil leaves in. Don't leave any sticking out - press down with a plate if necessary. Sadly I can't remember how long to infuse the oil, but the trick is to strain it and not leave any basil as it will go off. Then bottle it up. She said not to be tempted to put a leaf in for decoration as this will also taint the oil. The end result is basil flavoured oil, rather than preserved basil. Hope that helps, and sorry about the garlic - I'm sure others will answer that one!
PS my garlic is very small too, but good things come in small packages! And by the way - where did you find the sun? ;)