How To Store Elephant Garlic

Q: I purchased elephant garlic from an organic grocery and hope to plant it in late October. How should I store it until I plant it? 

A: Simply keep the garlic cloves dry and cool. They can then be planted in the sunny part of your garden. It won’t hurt to put a little organic fertilizer over them after planting. Don’t worry if leaves grow a bit in fall and then meet freezing weather. Elephant garlic leaves survive winter cold just fine. The plant will really grow quickly next year; three to six feet tall is not unusual. Clip off any flowers that form. When the leaves turn yellow and start to fall
over in late summer next year, it’s time to harvest. Use the largest bulbs in your kitchen but keep the small bulbs that have formed around the base and plant them next fall just as you did this year.