Garlic bulbils are a special treat that many home gardeners get to enjoy from their hardneck garlic plants. While most people are familiar with using the cloves of garlic bulbs in cooking, you may be wondering – can you eat those little round bulbils that grow at the top of the curling flower stalks?
The answer is yes! Garlic bulbils are completely edible and offer their own unique flavor and texture. In this article, we’ll explain everything you need to know about harvesting, eating, cooking with, and even growing garlic bulbils yourself.
What Exactly Are Garlic Bulbils?
Garlic bulbils, sometimes called topsets, are the small cluster of mini garlic cloves that develop on the flowering head of hardneck garlic plants. They are part of the garlic plant’s reproduction cycle.
If left to drop and take root the bulbils will grow into new garlic plants, allowing the garlic to propagate asexually. Many gardeners actually use bulbils as an easy way to expand their garlic patch rather than planting individual cloves each season.
Garlic bulbils can be used to make more garlic, but they can also be eaten. They have the same healthy chemicals as regular garlic cloves, like allicin, but come in a smaller package.
The Unique Flavor and Uses of Garlic Bulbils
So what do garlic bulbils taste like? Most people describe the flavor as milder and a bit sweeter than regular garlic cloves. The bulbils offer a distinctly garlicky flavor but it is more mellow and gentle on the palate.
If you bite into a bulbil, it will have a nice crunch and juice, while a regular clove will be soft. Garlic bulbils can be used in a lot of different ways because of their texture and flavor.
Some ideas for eating garlic bulbils:
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Chop raw bulbils as a crunchy garnish for salads, pizzas, pastas, soups.
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Sauté bulbils in butter or oil and add to stir fries, fried rice, omelets.
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Mix pieces into dressings, marinades, sauces for a mild garlic kick.
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Pickle garlic bulbils and enjoy as a condiment.
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Use dried, crushed bulbils as a seasoning.
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Infuse bulbils into vinegars and oils.
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Roast bulbils with olive oil and herbs for a flavorful side.
Since the bulbils are so small, you’ll need more of them than regular cloves to get the same level of garlic flavor. But they make dishes look nicer and give them a nice crunchy texture.
How to Grow Garlic Bulbs from Bulbils
One of the best parts of garlic bulbils is that they can be used to grow an entire head of garlic. Simply allowing the bulbils to drop and root will produce brand new garlic plants. But you can also be more intentional with planting bulbils to expand your garlic harvest.
Here are some tips for growing full bulbs of garlic from bulbils:
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Allow scapes to fully mature until bulbils are plump. Pick the bulbs when about half of them have turned from green to tan.
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Gently detach the bulbils from the scapes and discard any with blemishes.
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Cure fresh bulbils for 1-2 weeks in a dry, well-ventilated area before planting.
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Plant cured bulbils 2 inches deep and 4-6 inches apart in fall or early spring.
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Keep bulbils consistently watered when planted. They need more frequent watering than mature garlic.
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Mulch well to retain moisture and deter weeds.
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Bulbils will grow into full garlic bulbs in 1-2 growing seasons.
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Harvest bulbs when 2/3 of leaves have browned and dried out. Cure bulbs as you would regular garlic.
Growing garlic from bulbils is an extremely simple way to multiply what you harvest from year to year!
When and How to Harvest Garlic Bulbils
Timing is important when collecting garlic bulbils. It’s best to cut the scapes once around half of the bulbils have turned tan or brown in color. This indicates they are mature and ready for harvest.
Snip the scapes just below the bulbil cluster. You can then further trim the scapes into smaller bunches and hang to dry, or immediately detach the bulbils from the scapes.
For eating bulbils fresh, use them soon after harvesting. To preserve them:
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Cure fresh bulbils for 1-2 weeks in a dry, shaded spot with good airflow.
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Dehydrate bulbils in a food dehydrator or low oven until completely dried out.
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Store dried bulbils in an airtight container in a cool, dark place. They will keep for 4-6 months.
Proper harvesting and drying helps maintain the texture and flavor of garlic bulbils.
The Many Benefits of Garlic Bulbils
From their unique crunch and mellow garlic notes to their gardening superpowers, garlic bulbils offer a wide range of benefits:
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Provide an edible harvest from the garlic scapes you prune.
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Can be used to easily propagate more garlic plants.
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Offer a milder garlic flavor perfect for dressings, garnishes, pickling.
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Add delightful crunch and burst of juice when eaten raw.
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Require very little work to grow and multiply garlic from season to season.
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Let you enjoy garlic’s flavor and health benefits in bite-sized pieces.
Garlic bulbils are a tasty bonus that garlic gardening gifts to us. With proper timing and care, you can harvest bulbils for eating and growing to make the most of these mini garlic cloves.
Frequently Asked Questions About Garlic Bulbils
Are garlic bulbils safe to eat?
Yes, garlic bulbils are completely edible and safe to eat. They contain the same nutritional compounds as regular garlic cloves, just in a smaller amount. Introduce them slowly to your diet and monitor your body’s reaction, as some people can experience mild digestive upset from eating too many.
What’s the best way to cook garlic bulbils?
You can cook garlic bulbils in any way you would regular garlic cloves – sautéing, roasting, adding to soups and stir fries, etc. Their milder flavor allows for more versatility and creativity. Roasting brings out a sweet, nutty flavor. Quick-cooking methods like sautéing retains their signature crunch.
How long do garlic bulbils last when stored?
When dried properly and stored in an airtight container in a cool, dark place, garlic bulbils can last for 4-6 months. Check periodically for moisture and any rotting. Discard any bulbils that appear dried out or moldy.
Can you use garlic bulbils to grow more garlic?
Absolutely! Allowing garlic bulbils to drop and take root will produce new garlic plants. You can also be more intentional by harvesting, curing, and replanting the bulbils to easily expand your garlic growing operation.
Do softneck garlic produce bulbils?
Usually not. Garlic bulbils form on the flower stalks (scapes) of hardneck garlic varieties. Since softneck garlic do not form these scapes, they will not produce bulbils. Hardneck garlic is the best type to grow if you want to harvest garlic bulbils.
Discover the delight of garlic bulbils for yourself! These small but mighty garlic clones offer big culinary potential and gardening benefits. With the right harvesting and care, garlic bulbils can be a valuable and tasty addition to any garlic grower’s garden.
Outdoors in Fall – Furrows
FALL PLANTING: You can plant bulbils in the fall at the same time as you plant your cloves, however there is more risk of losing the crop to winter kill or vole/mole activity when planted in fall. At RCF weve had both great success and catastrophic failure using this method. If planting in the fall, DO NOT MULCH UNTIL JUST BEFORE SNOWFALL. Mulch creates a wonderful habitat for voles/moles and theyll be nesting right above their winter snacks.
All but the biggest of bulbils (Rocambole bulbils are huge and can be planted with regular spacing, or at least 4 inches apart) are planted differently than cloves. You can literally plant thousands of bulbils within a very small area. Here are the steps we use:
NOTE: Bulbils can be very difficult to distinguish from weeds in the springtime. We plant in furrows so that it is clear where the bulbils should and should not be coming up. This makes it much easier to weed around them.
- Make furrows about 1 inch deep in a 3/4-inch thick board that is a few inches shorter than your bed’s width. 5 inches deep across your bed. You can use a hammer to hit the board or just your hand to get down into the ground.
- Distribute your bulbils in this furrow all the way across. Bulbils don’t have to be upside down unless they are very big, so you can sprinkle them instead of putting them in one by one if you’d like. As a guide, porcelain and other bulbils the size of rice grains should be spaced about 1/2″ to 3/4″ apart. About 1″ should separate Marbled Purple Stripes and other medium-sized bulbils. The largest bulbils should be 4 inches apart, and the next largest should be about 2 inches apart.
- Gently cover the bulbils with soil and pat it down.
- Water them in but dont saturate the soil.
- When spring comes, KEEP THEM WET for the first two to three months. Then, let them dry out as their growing cycle comes to an end. Because their root systems are so small, bulbils will die if they get too dry. Water every day if necessary to keep the soil moist.
Are bulbils the true garlic seed?
One of the most fascinating features of hardneck garlic cultivars is that they still “bolt,” which means that in the second half of their growth they produce a towering stalk (the scape) that carries at its tip the now mostly impotent reproductive organs of the garlic plant. There are delicate, tiny flowers that emerge if the scape and the umbel at its tip are left to mature, and there are also tiny (and not so tiny depending on the cultivar) bulb-like features contained therein; but these tiny bulbs are not garlics true seed. they are bulbils.
