Possible to preserve sprouting garlic?

[GotGarlic]

I have some garlic that is starting to sprout. It's too early to plant it in the garden - they should go in in November here - so I was wondering if I could refrigerate it, like some flower bulbs, for the summer and plant them later. Has anyone done this? Thanks.

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

I think you should just plant it and hope for the best. I've done that before at all times of the year, although I do live in a very mild climate where you can probably get away with more than you can in harsher climates.

I looked at it this way: Once garlic starts to sprout I don't like it in food. It's either to the garden or to the trash.

 

[taxlady]

I have planted garlic in summer and enjoyed the greens all summer. Come October, the squirrels dug them up. Oh well. I had hoped they would be back the next year.

 

[Oldvine]

Plant it. See what it does. It seems to think it knows what it's doing.

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

I'm curious if anybody else has shared my garlic growing experience. I've just put 'em in the ground whenever... I've had some very nice garlic plants grow out of them, and of course some of them never come up.

I've really loved how the stem will shoot up sometimes 2 feet or more, with a kind of star head. I know the gold is the garlic head under the ground but I've also used the stem and particularly the head in salads and cooking.

I like to split the head (the tip of the stem a few feet above the ground) and I've used the pieces in salads, and I liked them. It was a side benefit to growing my own garlic.

Have you done this? Did you eat all the plant?

 

[Dawgluver]

No garlic, but I've planted shallots in both spring and fall. What the heck, give it a shot! As has been said, the shoots are good too!