Good news in the garden: my garlic did NOT die after all! Every single bulb revived and is growing splendidly. 

As I strolled out this afternoon to check everything over, I noticed quite a few little specks of dirt on my romaine leaves. I bent down to take a closer look and realized the dirt specks were moving... they were dozens of tiny little black bugs! And they were ALL OVER my romaine, arugula, and swiss chard. I'm reasonably sure they're aphids. Whatever they are, they did NOT like the vinegar/water mix I sprayed on them. My dad keeps a diluted vinegar mixture in a spray bottle for surface cleaning, and I was certain that I'd read somewhere that vinegar can often be used as an insect repellant. So I spritzed down the plants and those little bugs hopped off en masse in the blink of an eye. I told my dad about it and he remarked that he'd heard of a bug repellant recipe of soap, vinegar, and red pepper. The soap apparently makes it adhere to the plants better. So that's my next project, stay tuned.