Socalgirl,

While I don't know a thing about onions my best advice to you about the garlic is to Google "how to grow garlic" you will find umpteen different sites telling you what you need to know about when and how to plant them. Seed bulbs are just like the bulbs you eat...the only difference really is the size of it.

People grow big garlic bulbs just to sell to others like yourself. There are many different outlets for planting stock out there and is easy to buy online. Ebay is a good source for garlic bulbs in September. A local farmers market is another. I would not go to the big seed retailers your first year growing though..they're pretty expensive. You can go to your local grocery store and buy some bulbs in October-November and plant those is you want to play with the idea of growing garlic without a big outlay of cash. Hope this helps