How to prevent sliced vegetables/roots from sticking to the blade
I just ignore slices that stick to the blade. Each typically gets pushed off by the next one, so you only have one or perhaps a couple of slices on the blade at a time. When I've sliced the whole thing, I can wipe them off. This doesn't work when you're rough-chopping, in that delightfully casual way the TV chefs say "just run your knife through it all a few times" since half the stuff is on the blade, but it does work when you're slicing a carrot or garlic or whatever.

Just now, I sliced potatoes thinly for gratin and noticed that I semi-automatically gave each slice a little shove, using one of the fingers from the hand that was holding the potato, just as the slice finished. Obviously this only works for slices large enough to stand up past the top of the blade, but it's a technique you can use for some roots and veggies, even if not for garlic. I'm pretty sure I don't do that for things I intend to chop again in another direction, but only for things I am slicing.