There are several options I could suggest, none of them ideal.

If the bed is already prepared, buy a bag of good topsoil (one not excessively damp) and thaw it out if frozen. You could then go out with a cordless drill & a large auger bit, and drill holes in the frozen ground. Drill the planting holes 4-5" deep. Place a little of the topsoil in the hole, plant the clove, then fill the rest of the hole with soil & pack down firmly. Repeat until all garlic has been planted. I did this once in November, and had a fairly good garlic crop the following year.

You could also try to hold the garlic indoors over Winter, for a Spring planting. The bulbs could be placed in a bucket, covered with sand, sawdust, or hamster bedding, then placed in a cool location, such as a basement. You could also place the bulbs in plastic zippered freezer bags, and store them in a cool dark area, or in the fridge. I stored some bulbs in a freezer bag in my basement, and some of the cloves were still viable in Spring.

Spoilage of at least some of the cloves is just about inevitable when stored over the winter, so of the two options above, drill & plant would be my best recommendation.

A possible compromise would be to plant the garlic indoors, provided you have a large, well-lit space available for the pots. I've never tried this, but if done about halfway through the winter, the majority of the cloves should still be viable. You could then try transplanting once the soil has become workable in early Spring.

Having replaced much of my garlic stock in recent years, I know that purchased seed garlic is expensive... so I hope you are able to salvage what you have.

Thank

I've heard that if you dump a pile of organic material (pre-compost) on the ground, the heat from it will gradually thaw the ground. The layer probably has to be pretty thick, in order to avoid iself freezing. Putting insulation on top will help. Blankets, tarps, foam, etc. The pile itself will also act as an insulator, so heat from decomposition within the ground will accumulate. Of course, building a fire on top will do it more quickly. A bag or two of charcoal. Unless the bed is close to a structure.

I have a raised lettuce table outside that I could probably drill and plant in. It is about 16-18" deep. My concern it might freeze and thaw several times between now and next growing season. Thoughts?

You might try covering your planting area with plastic- If you get some sunshine it just might thaw out. I put plastic on my carrots and was able to dig them out after a few days when the ground thawed. What is your location?

"My concern it might freeze and thaw several times between now and next growing season. Thoughts?"

Since the ground is already frozen, your only concern after drill planting is to prevent thawing. A thick layer of mulch would accomplish that. It would prevent (or at least minimize) the freeze/thaw cycles that cause frost heave or premature sprouting.

Hay or straw would be my best suggestion for the mulch; 5-6" would suffice. I would recommend against much more than that, or covering with a tarp, because that could inadvertently create habitat that encourages rodents to move in... which might then dig up & eat the garlic. That happened to me once, the mice completely destroyed a bed of perennial onions.

You can thaw the ground generally by placing bales of straw or hay on it in a good tight layer. At least this early in the season. Later on maybe not so much if you get a 3-4' down frost line.

Try pouring boiling water on the spots you want to plant in. If that works and you have 6 cloves on your bulb then you might get away with 6 steaming pots of water. If you have Italian late with 25 cloves your work is cut out for you. You may not need a full pot of water for each clove. Wait till your soil cools down before planting and please!, don't spill it on you. Hope your herb garden is close to your kitchen.

Or:
Empty a bag of sand on top of the soil. Plant in the sand. Or buy a bag of cow manure from the big box store which is a mixture of manure and sand, plant in that. In the spring you'll have to carefully transplant each one. Unless you have a raised bed which already needs an addition to raise the top surface.......

Thank you all for the help.

SW Pa zone 6a December 11, 2018

I planted garlic today after 17° last night. The ground had a slight crunch at the surface, but when I tried to stand on my spade it went right thru. Seemed dry and very workable.

Hi All,

You were all so helpful I wanted to give you an update. I am trying a variety of things:

1. I planted some in an area of a flower bed by drilling holes and covering with potting soil and mulch..

2. I put some in the vegetable bin of the refrigerator to be planted in the spring.=.

3. I planted some in pots and placed the pots in the cellar window well. I covered the window and filled the well with leaves.

4. I planted some in the lettuce table just for the heck of it.

We shall see what Sprig brings. Thank you for the help.

Best wishes! Planting my cloves tommorow! (Well we have 30's at night, 60's during the day right now. )

"3. I planted some in pots and placed the pots in the cellar window well. I covered the window and filled the well with leaves."

I'm assuming this means that the pot is outside? I like that idea. Hopefully the cloves will be able to begin rooting before they freeze, and that location should protect them from the most severe cold.

Please come back to this thread in Spring, I'd love to hear your results.