Garlic Bulbs

No vegetable garden feels truly complete without garlic. Planted in fall and quietly rooting through winter, garlic rewards patience with robust, flavorful bulbs that far outshine anything from the store. Growing your own allows you to choose varieties for taste, size, and storage, making garlic one of the most satisfying and reliable crops you can grow.

There are a few distinct types of garlic, each with its own strengths. Hardneck varieties, like Chesnok Red, thrive in colder climates and produce edible scapes, offering large, easy-to-peel cloves with exceptional flavor, though they don’t store as long. Softneck garlic, such as California Early, is highly adaptable, excels in milder regions, stores for months, and is the classic choice for braiding. Elephant garlic, while not a true garlic, is grown in much the same way and stands out for its oversized cloves and gentle, mild flavor, perfect for gardeners who love garlic without the bite.

• Choose from six unique varieties
• Unmatched flavor and freshness
• Easy, low-maintenance crop
• Excellent long-term storage

Each head of garlic, the bulb, consists of five to ten cloves. Separating those cloves and planting each one will mature into a full head of garlic. Let’s say, for example, you and your family eat a head of garlic a week. For this amount, we suggest planting 60 to 70 cloves, therefore needing to purchase 6 to 15 bulbs. (This can fit into a 4x4 bed, planting each clove six inches apart.) We figure if you eat that much garlic, then you may have family and friends that do as well, and this will give you enough to store and share. Plus, you can save a few to plant the following fall!

Garlic responds to increasing day length in spring, which is what signals the plant to begin forming bulbs. Because this timing is set by nature and not by planting date, fall planting gives garlic the advantage of developing a strong root system and plenty of leafy growth before bulbing begins. More foliage at that critical moment means larger, better-formed bulbs at harvest, while garlic planted in winter or early spring simply doesn’t have enough time to build that leaf mass and will produce smaller bulbs.

Garlic also benefits from a period of winter chill, which helps trigger healthy growth and proper bulb development. Just a short stretch of soil temperatures below about 50°F is enough to stimulate this process. This cold response is also why garlic should never be stored in the refrigerator. Cool, moist conditions can actually cause cloves to sprout prematurely.

You might wonder what truly sets our garlic apart from what you’ll find at the supermarket. Most grocery stores offer just a single type of garlic, typically a white softneck, despite the fact that there are dozens of distinct garlic varieties. At Eden Brothers, we offer an exceptional selection of rich, flavorful hardnecks and striking purple stripes, each with its own aroma, texture, and taste. Bring these fresh, specialty garlics into your kitchen and discover how much more exciting garlic can be. No more settling for bulbs that have been sitting on store shelves for weeks!