Inchelium Red is the softneck that defies standard garlic rules — our 2025 experiment showed small cloves producing the same 3-inch bulbs as large ones. The best softneck for mild-climate growers.

Most softneck garlic advice is the same everywhere you look: plant your largest cloves, grow in a mild climate, expect mild flavor, store for several months. Inchelium Red follows some of those rules and breaks others in ways that matter to growers who want to get the most out of their garden.

It is an artichoke softneck that originated on the Colville Indian Reservation in Washington State and won a national taste test judged by Rodale's test kitchens. It produces large bulbs, stores exceptionally well, and in our experience grows like it has something to prove.

The Small Clove Experiment

Standard garlic planting advice holds that clove size predicts bulb size. Plant your largest cloves, get your largest bulbs. The smallest cloves from the innermost layers of a garlic bulb are generally considered not worth planting — too small, too little energy stored, too risky for a season's worth of bed space.

In 2025, we tested that assumption with Inchelium Red. We planted two rows side by side: one with our largest cloves, as usual, and one intentionally planted with the smallest cloves we had — the ones so small we would normally have set them aside for the kitchen.

The results were not what we expected. The small-clove row produced bulbs the same size as the large-clove row. Many reached three inches across. By harvest, there was no meaningful difference between the two rows.

This does not mean clove size never matters. For most varieties, it does. But in our zone 8 Willamette Valley conditions, Inchelium Red overachieves in a way that defies the standard rule. Something about the combination of mild winters and this variety's genetics produces consistent, large bulbs regardless of starting clove size.

Why Mild-Climate Growers Should Pay Attention

Hardneck garlic requires vernalization — a sustained cold period, typically several weeks below 40°F, to trigger the physiological process that leads to proper bulb development. In climates with mild or inconsistent winters, hardneck varieties frequently produce single-clove rounds instead of segmented bulbs, or they simply underperform.

Softneck garlic, and Inchelium Red specifically, does not depend on vernalization the same way. It thrives in zones 7 through 9 where winters are warm enough to disappoint a Rocambole grower. Growers in the Pacific Coast states, the South, and the lower Mid-Atlantic who have tried hardnecks and been frustrated will find Inchelium a different experience entirely.

This is worth stating plainly: Inchelium Red is not the garlic you grow because you cannot grow hardneck. It is the garlic you grow because it is genuinely excellent — large bulbs, outstanding storage, mild complex flavor, and performance that holds even from small seed stock in mild climates. It won the Rodale taste test competing against all types, not just softnecks.

Flavor

Mild, sweet, and layered. No harsh heat, no sharp bite that lingers. Raw, it has a gentle presence. Roasted, it becomes almost buttery. In long-cooked dishes, it rounds out and deepens without ever turning acrid or sharp the way some high-heat varieties do.

It is the garlic for people who want to use it in everything — dressings, dips, salsas, pasta, soups, grain bowls — and want a supply that lasts well into winter without having to ration. With a storage life of 6 to 9 months, an Inchelium harvest in July carries through to early spring under good conditions.

In the Garden

Inchelium Red is an artichoke softneck, which means no scape — the curling flower stalk that hardneck growers remove in spring. That simplifies the growing season by one step. Plant October through November in most U.S. climates, harvest June through July when the lower leaves begin to dry. Mulch after planting in colder zones.

Softneck types also produce more cloves per bulb than hardneck varieties. An Inchelium bulb typically has 8 to 20 cloves arranged in multiple overlapping layers. The outer cloves are large; the inner ones smaller. As our experiment showed, even those inner cloves perform well as planting stock in mild climates.

Storage and Braiding

Six to nine months in a cool, dry, well-ventilated space. The flexible softneck stem stays pliable after curing, which makes Inchelium Red one of the best varieties for traditional garlic braiding. A braided string of Inchelium is both a practical storage method and one of the more attractive things you can hang in a kitchen.

Our Recommendation

If you grow one softneck variety, grow Inchelium Red. If you are in a mild-winter climate and have been told softnecks are your only option, consider that Inchelium is not the consolation prize — it is the right answer. And if you have been throwing away your small inner cloves instead of planting them, our 2025 results suggest that with Inchelium in zone 8, that might be unnecessary caution.

Order Inchelium Red seed garlic — ships September for fall planting. Browse all six Earthwise varieties.

Earthwise Garlic is a small family farm in Coburg, Oregon, growing six heirloom seed garlic varieties pesticide-free in the Willamette Valley.

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