Can You Eat Garlic Bulbils? A Deep Dive into These Unique Garlic Offshoots

Umbels can be purchased in our Online Garlic Store. Select them from the cultivars product page drop-down menu. Each product page provides information about how many bulbils are, on average, contained within each umbel.

We allow a good number of umbels to grow to maturity for each cultivar. But if you know ahead of time that you’ll need a lot of a certain kind, please let us know and we’ll make sure to reserve them for you. If possible, contact us before scape removal in June.

We’ve gotten a lot of questions from growers in the early spring about what they should be looking for in their bulbil patch. Does it look like regular garlic, but smaller? How can you tell them apart from weeds? Very good questions and well list the answers here.

When you’re done harvesting your first-year bulbils, you’ll probably put them back in the ground. This doesnt mean you should just leave them in the ground to grow another year. for two reasons:

Marble sized rounds (1/2″ diameter) should be planted about 3 inches apart for the 2nd year. 3/4″ rounds need a little more space—maybe 5 inches, or even 6 or 7 inches if you have the room. Plant the rounds with the right side up and at the same depth as the cloves, which is usually about 2″ from the top of the clove or round.

Garlic bulbils are an intriguing and often overlooked part of the garlic plant. As the name suggests, garlic bulbils are small, bulb-shaped structures that form on hardneck garlic scapes (flower stalks). While most people are familiar with using the garlic cloves for cooking, you may be wondering – can you eat garlic bulbils?

The short answer is yes! Garlic bulbils have a milder garlic taste compared to cloves, but they are completely edible and can add a unique flavor to many dishes. In this article, we’ll take a deep dive into everything you need to know about garlic bulbils, including what they are, how to use them in cooking, and their potential health benefits.

What Exactly Are Garlic Bulbils?

Garlic bulbils form on the scape or flower stalk of hardneck garlic varieties. Softneck garlic types do not produce scapes or bulbils. The scape emerges in early summer and coils into a loop as it lengthens. At the end of the scape is a cluster of small, round bulbils.

Botanically speaking, the bulbils are a form of asexual reproduction. Each bulbil can grow into a genetically identical garlic clone This is why bulbils are sometimes referred to as garlic “seeds” even though they do not form from sexual reproduction like true seeds.

The bulbils start out very small, around the size of a pea or wheat kernel. As they mature they swell and can reach up to the size of a grape. Inside each papery covering is a tiny clove of garlic.

When and How to Harvest Garlic Bulbils

The best time to harvest garlic bulbils is after the scapes straighten and swell, usually in mid to late summer. The bulbils will be fully formed at this point.

To harvest, simply snip off the scapes a few inches below the bulbil cluster. The easiest way is to grip the curved part of the scape while it’s still flexible and bend it until the stalk snaps.

Fresh garlic bulbils will keep for 2-3 months when stored in a cool, dry place. For long term storage, you can dehydrate the bulbils and then store in an airtight container.

Flavor Profile and Uses for Garlic Bulbils

The flavor of garlic bulbils is often described as being milder and sweeter than regular garlic cloves. There is a definite garlic essence, but more subdued. The taste is almost like a cross between garlic and green onion or chives.

The mildness of garlic bulbils makes them extremely versatile in the kitchen. Here are some of the most popular ways to use them:

  • Chopped raw onto salads, pizza, pastas, or bruschetta
  • Sautéed quickly in olive oil or butter as a garnish
  • Added to scrambled eggs, omelets, frittatas
  • Roasted whole alongside vegetables
  • Simmered in soups, stews, and stocks
  • Infused into oil or vinegar
  • Fermented and pickled
  • Used in pesto instead of garlic cloves
  • Dehydrated and ground into “garlic powder”

Garlic bulbils work especially well to provide a subtle background garlic flavor in dishes without overpowering. Their mildness allows other ingredients to still shine through.

Can You Plant Garlic Bulbils to Grow Garlic?

Absolutely! Garlic bulbils are a natural way that hardneck garlic reproduces. Each bulbil will grow into a full garlic plant.

To grow garlic from bulbils, plant them about one-inch deep in fertile soil in the fall. Space the bulbils 4-6 inches apart to allow room for bulbing. In the second year, they will form full garlic bulbs that can be harvested.

One downside of growing from bulbils is it takes two years to go from bulbil to mature bulb. For a quicker harvest, it’s best to plant large garlic cloves saved from the previous season. However, growing garlic from bulbils is a fun experiment for any gardener.

Potential Health Benefits of Garlic Bulbils

While garlic bulbils are less potent than cloves, they still retain some of the nutritional qualities associated with garlic:

Antioxidants – Garlic contains antioxidants like allicin that can help neutralize free radicals and reduce oxidative stress in the body. The antioxidant activity of bulbils is lower than cloves but still present.

Immune-boosting – Compounds in garlic may stimulate the immune system. More research is needed, but garlic bulbils likely provide some immune-enhancing effects.

Cardiovascular benefits – Garlic promotes healthy circulation and artery health. The sulfur-containing compounds in bulbils may offer similar cardiovascular benefits as cloves but in smaller amounts.

Anti-inflammatory – The antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties in garlic provide benefits for inflammatory conditions. Bulbils contain these compounds but in lower concentrations.

So while bulbils are not a nutritional powerhouse like cloves, they do offer some overlapping health benefits that complement a healthy, garlic-rich diet.

Tips for Cooking with Garlic Bulbils

Garlic bulbils deserve a place in every home cook’s repertoire. Here are some top tips for making the most of them:

  • Add them raw at the end for a fresh, mild garlic taste. Cooking dulls their flavor.

  • Remove the papery coverings first for a more even distribution of flavor.

  • To mellow the taste, sauté or roast briefly before adding to dishes.

  • Use more bulbils than you would cloves to compensate for their delicate flavor.

  • Combine bulbils with cloves to get both garlic punch and mild sweetness.

  • Pickle or ferment bulbils whole to amplify their flavor.

  • Use grape-sized bulbils as a fun garnish for soups or salads.

  • Store cleaned bulbils submerged in oil to infuse the oil with garlic essence.

With their versatility and unique, mellow taste, garlic bulbils are a boon for any garlic lover’s kitchen. Though often overlooked, bulbils are very much edible and provide a tasty way to enjoy garlic’s delightful essence. So next time you spot these intriguing structures growing on your garlic, don’t discard them – harvest and add them to your next meal!

can you eat garlic bulbils

Why plant bulbils?

Bulbils are like miniature round or oblong cloves. They can be eaten like cloves—many people don’t bother peeling them and just crush them and use them in recipes—but what’s more important to us is that they can be planted.

There are several reasons to plant bulbils, either instead of or in addition to planting mature cloves. If you don’t need to bring a full crop to market right away, try building your stock with the bulbil method. Benefits to farmers include:

  • exponential growth of seed stock (see chart below)
  • purging of all soil born disease (nematodes, fungus, etc)
  • gradual acclimation of cultivar to your growing conditions

can you eat garlic bulbils

Outdoors in Fall – Furrows

FALL PLANTING: You can plant bulbils in the fall at the same time as cloves, but if you do, you are more likely to lose the crop to winter kill or vole/mole activity. 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 bulbils except the biggest ones (Rocambole bulbils are huge and can be planted at least 4 inches apart) are planted in a different way than cloves. You can literally plant thousands of bulbils within a very small area. Here are the steps we use:

can you eat garlic bulbils

NOTE: Bulbils can be very difficult to distinguish from weeds in the springtime. We plant in furrows so it’s easy to see where the bulbils should and shouldn’t grow. 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.

GARLIC BULBILS – WHAT THEY ARE AND WHAT TO DO WITH THEM – Thyme2Grow!

FAQ

What do you do with garlic bulbils?

Sprout the small bulbils the same way you would sprout other seeds. Use on salads or in stir fries. Sprinkle raw on your salad or cooked greens to add a wonderfully crunchy garnish. Picture: Bogatyr garlic bulbils in the field.

Are bulbils edible?

Although most people commonly consume the cloves, the scapes and bulbils are also edible. Garlic that has not yet formed bulbs called green garlic can also be harvested and consumed.

When to harvest garlic bulbils?

The tiny bulbils take about three years to produce a good-sized cloven bulb while the larger bulbils will produce small cloven bulbs in the first year. In the second year, harvest the bulbils and cure them like garlic and then replant the “round” that fall.

Can you eat garlic bulbils raw?

Garlic bulbils can add a spicy hint of garlic to any dish. Add raw to enhance the flavor and texture of foods. Or cook with the dish for a more mellow taste. The bulbil skin is thin so you can use whole and unpeeled. Tired of broccoli sprouts? Sprout garlic bulbils for a fresh burst of antioxidants.

Can you plant a bulb of garlic?

Because each of these little tiny bulbils will grow into not a bulb of garlic, but a single clove of garlic which once you have a clove of garlic, you can plant that that turns into a bulb of garlic. So yes, you *can* plant them in that context. But honestly, if you want to be harvesting bulbs of garlic, don’t bother with the bulbils.

Should you sprout garlic bulbils?

Sprout garlic bulbils for a fresh burst of antioxidants. A recent study suggests that sprouting garlic has enhanced antioxidant activity (Zakarova et al. 2014) compared to unsprouted garlic. Sprout the small bulbils the same way you would sprout other seeds. Use on salads or in stir fries.

Do bulbils grow on Hardneck garlic?

To plant bulbils, you must leave the scapes on those plants. The garlic from those plants is still edible but less desirable than plants from which you remove the scapes. Only hardneck garlic produces a flower stalk that will develop bulbils. Bulbils vary greatly in size and number depending on variety.

How do you eat bulbils?

Bulbils are in the garlic umbel (scape). Add to stir fries for a pop of flavor. Pickle in a vinegar brine with a touch of sugar (in the refrigerator) for an exotic topping. Stir into a stew or soup to add savory bites. Mix into dips for a surprising burst of garlic.

Can you eat garlic bulbils if you mulch?

If you mulch, control mice and voles, which will eat the bulbils. Store in a warm dry place until planting time the next fall. Garlic bulbils are tiny “bulbs” that form when a hardneck garlic flower stalk is allowed to mature. They can be grown to increase your crop.

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