Zone 6A garlic not planted -- help!

I'm not new to gardening,  but a total newbie to garlic.

About 5 or 6 weeks ago, I planted maybe 60 cloves in my zone 6A garden; the first set sprouted.

We decided that wasn't enough but the mild weather dropped FAST and it was in the 30s all last week and it'll be the same this week, until Friday and Saturday when it's expected to be 29 or 30, then it should be highs in the 40s for three more weeks.

I have an empty raised bed, a heavy black tarp and loads of leaves. Can I still put that garlic in there? Could I do that and tarp it? If so, for how long? Or put leaves as mulch? Or is it utterly too late?

Constancia Wiweru wrote:I'm not new to gardening,  but a total newbie to garlic.

About 5 or 6 weeks ago, I planted maybe 60 cloves in my zone 6A garden; the first set sprouted.

We decided that wasn't enough but the mild weather dropped FAST and it was in the 30s all last week and it'll be the same this week, until Friday and Saturday when it's expected to be 29 or 30, then it should be highs in the 40s for three more weeks.

I have an empty raised bed, a heavy black tarp and loads of leaves. Can I still put that garlic in there? Could I do that and tarp it? If so, for how long? Or put leaves as mulch? Or is it utterly too late?

Get it in while you can still work the ground. It will be fine I would leave the tarp off, but I'm generally moving away from plastics on the ground period. Micro plastics and phthalates, both persuasive arguments against plastic, for me. I would, and I do, mulch heavily with leaves. Being in a forest, it's one of my greatest resources
We're in zone 6a bordering on 6b

I second everything that Peter said.  We planted late too, same zone.  Put the leaves on after it sprouts so you don’t have them totally covered.  Those leaves will help feed them and also keep them moist, a must for garlic.  It is a medium heavy feeder, needs compost.  

I agree as well, it's not too late to plant garlic.  I still have 100 cloves I need to bury, this thread will hopefully motivate me to get that done.  Today, yeah, today.

I mulch ... a little bit, after they sprout, mulching around the plants, not on top.  I don't want to risk smothering the plants (or at least causing the plants to expend valuable energy growing vertically to get some sun), though others have said in the past that the garlic will push right up and through the mulch, no problem.

yup, i’m one of those others. i mulch heavily with leaf mulch immediately after planting, the garlic has never had a problem coming up through it. i’ve planted garlic as late as december before, with only a slight decrease in average size. you’ve still got time!

I have a habit of putting in the garlic too early, a couple weeks before predicted first frost. That works, but it gives the garlic time to sprout before winter, and that's just wasted energy. Ideally, you want the garlic to have time to start growing roots before freezes shut everything down, but not enough time for green shoots to start forming above ground.

I agree with other posters that it's not too late. Get them in the ground as soon as possible, then cover with several inches of leaf mulch, not plastic. Simply dumping unchopped, uncomposted fall leaves works fine.

In the spring, wait until digging in the leaf mulch shows that green shoots are forming, then remove most of the mulch so the sun can reach them.