Sally, I don't do anything very technical with mine - in the fall I mix in some triple-10 fertilizer and compost, then plant the cloves (root end down! LOL) about 6 inches apart and 3-4" deep. They get a light covering of mulch and then I wait for spring... mine is usually ready to harvest at the end of July, but of course that varies with location; the important thing is to make sure the plants still have about 3 green(ish) leaves left when you harvest, each leaf represents a layer of skin over the bulb and if you wait too long you will end up with a bunch of loose cloves instead of bulbs. (speaking from experience there - when I first started growing it I assumed you just let the plant die down like with onions...) After I harvest it I spread the plants out on some big hardware cloth screens in the garage and let them dry for 1-1/2 to 2 months (or until I get around to doing something with them). Then I cut the stalks and roots off and store them in paper bags in our unheated garage (if we have a particularly cold winter I put them into the semi-heated workshop that stays in the 50s in really cold weather).
