Umbels	Bulbils	Rounds, after first year harvest

Below is the descriptions of the ideal way to get healthy garlic started if you have a lot of time, and good soil. We did this for several varieties ourself; this process was tedious, but worth it. Starting with Bulbils avoids the risk of any soil disease coming into your garden. This is important if you already have garlic varieties you like in your garden.

Planting

You will want to select a location for your garlic bulbils, with soft soil and partial to full sun. The fewer weeds that there are the better because you will not be able to till out any weeds in the spring. Planting should happen about 2-6 weeks before the ground freezes up completely. In southern Alberta we plant our bulbils starting in the end of October.

Because bulbils are still small, you will be able to plant then quite close together. 2 inches apart in a row will give space for all the roots to find plenty of nutrients, and it will provide space for you to get your fingers in to pull out weeds. The spacing between the rows will depend on what you have for a hoe. We try do plant with enough space for out 4 inch hoe to fit between rows. This will speed up the weeding process. Finally, you will want to be about 1 inch deep with your planting to help make harvesting easier, and to ensure that most will be able to get out of the soil. Firmly tuck your bulbils in for their long winter ahead.

Spring Time

Your garlic bulbils will be springing up quite early, but not as early as the full size garlic's. Last year our bulbils started pocking through around the first week of May when our other garlic was about two inches tall already. You may want to do some early watering if there is a crust on your soil that can be hard to penetrate. 

Hopefully your garlic will have a head-start on your weeds, but be sure they will be coming soon to enjoy all the sun that garlic lets through. Weeding should be done as often as you can as long as you an not compacting the soil too much. below is a picture of our bulbils after they had a good weeding.

  Harvesting

After several months of watering and weeding, your bulbils will have turned into first year rounds, as seen at the top of this article. You will know they are ready to harvest when you begin to see the first leaves wither and turn brown. Will want to take them out of the ground when there are still several green leaves so that you have something to hold onto when your friend is digging with the garden forks. Harvesting will be the biggest job with these gems, but it is so worth it to see the rewards of your care.

When pulling out the first year garlic, there will be some that have already formed cloves in the bulb. These cloves will not be big enough for planting the second year, but they will make good eating; and because they are compact, they will have longer storage times. 

We usually sort out any bulbils that formed scapes so that they can be eaten fresh. The rest of the first year garlic will need to be laid out in a breezy place to dry for about 3-4 weeks before removing the tops and doing any size screening that you may want. After this, they can be stored in a dry and cool place. (Not below 5 degrees C.) This will be your seed stock for planting in the fall the second year.

Growing out the Cloves or Rounds

Below is a series of pictures that show the process that we have used for planting garlic cloves by hand, as well as the ways we use mechanization to help with planting, weeding, and harvesting. (pics coming soon)