The cold 2 or 3 weeks ago finished off everything here. I should have harvested the immature cauliflower. What I had harvested [only 2 heads] was really white and delicious. Myself, I can't stand yellow or smelly cauliflower at all.
The broccoli was so good. I like Triathlon and Green Goliath with their tiny tight beads.

I have a fair amount of seed left over, but have sent in an order [got it too] to Twilley and one to Stokes. Vermont Bean Seed has so many of the things I want. Of course Willhite has so many melons.

Hi Wayne!
I just today emailed Wilhite for a catalog, haven't forgotten your melon recommendations. I like Stokes too but mostly order from Pinetree lately. Like Nichols too but they've jumped in prices lately.

That snow turned out to have a good wind behind it and we did get 4" which is now hopefully acting as a blanket tonite for the carrots, etc that's literally locked into place. Another snow storm is taking form now and may hit Thurs nite into Friday here....time will tell...

Well we just got dumped with 12-18" of snow.

I had pulled all my carrots because I found our root cellar is an ideal temperature once it cools down in November. Beats trudging through the snow and getting my hands cold and wet uncovering carrots.

It's all over til next spring.

Hi Veilchen, I've been thinking about digging a root cellar, mainly for storing summer watermelons as they seem to "keep" twice as long at 60F compared to 90F (under my leantoo). Did you dig yours? Got any good plan designs? net sites?

Ours came with the house (c. 1930)--dirt floor and all. It is an enclosure off the rest of our cellar, which is semi-heated due to the boiler in there.

It is not really of use for vegetables that are harvested in Sept. and need to be kept cool--the temp rises in the root cellar all summer and does not cool back down til mid-fall. I have seen plans for making root cellars, and maybe a properly-built and sited one stays cooler in the late summer months than ours.

So far this month the temps in there have ranged 39-42F.

Greetings. I got my garlic in early in November, before the first cold and snow. We've had a couple of storms including the kind that have a combination of snow, freezing rain and sleet.
I spent most of the last month peeling and freezing the rest of my garlic. With the type of humid summer we had, it was hard to find a dry location for curing. I have frozen it as it'll still be good and won't be lost to rotting.
I'm just waiting for the new year as that's when websites will get their new catalogs online. I have to check my tomatoes and peppers as that's what I usually need most. A dear friend from one of the farmer's markets passed away and we grew a lot of his hot peppers as well as bought some to supplement ours. So I'll have to search a bit more for seeds. But that comes next month after all the cookies are done and given out.

Hi Ellen! We had the snow/freezing rain/sleet yesterday all day. Everything is a sheet of ice now, I'm afraid to go out there!

Most of my garlic has been keeping fine in a ceramic bin, the kind with holes for air circulation meant to store onions in. I cured it outside in the sun for a few days in July, then it went into the bin, which sits on my kitchen countertop (out of direct sunlight). The garlic is actually keeping better at room temp than the onions I have down in the cellar--the cellar has been very damp due to all the rain we've had since fall.

Hi veilchen, I know the kind of container you're referring to. I have one, but it can only hold about 10 bulbs of garlic and I probably had about 70. On other years, years that weren't as humid, I was able to keep it in paper bags in the kitchen cabinets, but I think the humidity outside during the summer in and out of the ground caused the problem. This was one of the most humid summers I've seen in this area and I've been here 16 years! One thing I did differently this fall was move the location of where I planted the garlic. Last year, I used an area in the back which is slightly lower and holds the moisture a little more. I'll use that section for cukes or melons instead next year. Just keep learning as time goes on.
Ellen