Dick's Big Bulbs

Bigger cloves. Bigger flavor. Bigger bragging rights.

  • 🧄 Hand-selected XL & Jumbo bulbs
  • 🚜 Midwest grown & cured
  • ❌ No soft spots, no fluff

Why Big Bulbs?

Because big cloves tend to grow big bulbs. When you plant larger, well-formed cloves, you stack the deck for chunkier harvests next summer. (Garlic is asexual—cloves are clones of the parent bulb—so starting big helps you finish big.) Soil, spacing, and care still matter, but size gives you a head start.

  • More meat on every clove for roasting, smashing, and sauce-making.
  • Fewer tiny fillers—less peeling, more eating.
  • Plant ’em or plate ’em: perfect for seed stock and serious kitchen duty.

Planting Quick-Start

  1. Timing: Plant in fall, about 4–6 weeks before ground freeze in your area.
  2. Prep: Loosen soil, add compost, ensure drainage. Garlic hates wet feet.
  3. Break bulbs: Separate into individual cloves just before planting. Plant the biggest cloves.
  4. Spacing: 6–8" between cloves, 12–15" between rows. Pointy end up, 2–3" deep.
  5. Mulch: After the first hard frost, mulch with straw/leaves to protect and suppress weeds.

Rule of thumb: 1 lb of hardneck seed often yields ~40–60 cloves (variety-dependent). Bigger bulbs = bigger average clove size.

Size Grades (Approx.)

  • Jumbo: extra-large bulbs with premium-sized cloves—our top planting pick.
  • XL: reliably large bulbs for planting or serious kitchen work.
  • Large: excellent all-arounders; great value for eating and planting.

Exact size ranges can vary by variety and season—see product pages for current specs.

Kitchen Wins

  • Roast whole and squeeze out garlic gold.
  • Slice thick for confit, steaks, and sheet-pan magic.
  • Mince once—big cloves = less peeling, more flavor.

The Stinkin’ Good Standard

  • Hand-trimmed and cured for peak flavor and storage.
  • Sorted by humans with opinions (and high standards).
  • Packed with care and shipped fast from the Midwest.

Heads up: bulbs are agricultural products—shape and color can vary. That’s how you know they’re real.

FAQs

Can I eat these or are they just for planting?

Both! They’re fantastic in the kitchen and excellent as seed stock. If you’re planting, choose the biggest cloves from each bulb.

How many bulbs do I need?

Depends on spacing and clove count. As a rough guide, a 10×10 ft plot at 6–8" spacing takes ~225–400 cloves. Start big, harvest big.

Hardneck vs. softneck?

Most of our “big bulb” favorites are hardnecks—larger cloves, amazing flavor, and scapes in spring. Softnecks braid well and store longer.


Proudly grown by a small Midwest family crew. If it isn’t Stinkin’ Good, it isn’t Dick’s.