Don't Do What We Did! We Ruined Our Field?!? 

Thanks guys, I find all this very interesting, even though I see it was a crappy day for y'all. I will probably never get to the "field" level of garlic growing at my age, but hopefully I can apply your experience on a smaller scale. I suspect things are about to get more challenging because of unpredictable weather due to climate change. I've been growing garlic for about 18 yrs on a small scale (for us and our garlic-loving friends). When we had to move our previous garden mid-season, I lost a lot of my planting stock, and I've been in catch-up mode at our new place for the last 2 seasons. Last year, a lot of my bubils grew right through the round stage to small bulbs, not really what I'd hoped for, as only half of the cloves are really big enough to plant. I've never planted my bubils in the fall, just rounds and cloves, for exactly the reason you suggest - that they would be lost in the weeds, so I am watching your growing pains with the greatest of interest. Usually I've planted them in the spring between my rows of fall-planted garlic when I pull back the mulch from the sprouting garlic, and harvest them 2-3 weeks later. I usually plant about 200 rounds/cloves in the fall, and about 100 bubils (only the bigger ones) in the spring. I've been thinking about trying some bubils this fall, and my idea was to plant them in a small furrow of weed-seed-free soil mix made in the deeper soil, so at least I'll know it's them, and have a brief head start. Good luck to you on this project - I will definitely stay tuned!

I feel your pain Dave, we're in much the same boat here on the Wet Coast. Got the beds formed mid October, just in the nick of time and it's been raining ever since. Still hoping for a break in the rain so we don't have to do all of our planting in the muck. Hang in there - hi to Curtis.