I buy ~2*3 inch zip locks at the dollar store. They're cheap and called craft storage bags (for beads etc.)

You can make and test the "site" on your own computer, as long as the directory and file names match what you will be using on the web and you stick to plain HTML and JAVA applets. It gets tricky if you want to do server-side things like CGI and PHP. Example: If you have a home page as ~fred just make a directory called website and make all the subdirectories you willuse. website/images website/auctions website/blah As long as you keep the links RELATIVE (/images/picture.jpg and not C:\\website\images\picture.jpg) you can test the links and debug the site structure. Then up-load.

For us, undercabinet lights were only mildly necessary. We plan on a light colored backsplash and our recessed cans put out a ton of light on the counters. Plus, most of the work we do at the counter is on the island, under the pendant lights. The undercab lights are really there for two reasons: to add a splash of extra light in a few slightly darker areas and to use as occasional nightlight/mood lighting in the kitchen when we have guests. Given how we planned to use our undercabinet lighting, our electrician recommended that we use rope lights. They aren't at all what I pictured when he said that. I thought he meant those flexible plastic tubes with lights in them, but these are rigid fixtures that operate in much the same way as all the other undercab lights I've seen. They aren't as bright as some undercab lights, but that was a plus for us. We didn't want strong, bright lights, just a bit of extra task lighting. They are hardwired, don't use a lot of energy compared with other lights, and are very cool to the touch. We have been very happy with them. Oooh, I almost forgot to mention that they were VERY inexpensive!

It rarely is too late to plant anything at this time of the year since we're in the winter doldrums. Technically speaking, garlic can be planted any day of the year. It typically is planted in September, October or November here, depending on how warm the autumn is, but still will produce even if planted in January or February. It just won't produce as well as it would have if it had been planted earlier. The later you plant it, the less time it has to grow before the summer heat pushes it towards harvest time. Also, the later you plant it, the less time is has to accumulate enough chilling. If you've got it, you certainly should plant it because whatever it produces will be a lot more than you'll get if you don't plant it. You probably can grow some of the smaller squash plants in 20 gallon grow bags, but heat will be your (and their) enemy. Squash plants tend to wilt in the summer heat, and that is more of a heat reaction than a reaction to dry soil, as they'll wilt even in wet ground. However, the plants do suck up and use a lot of moisture to keep those large leaves hydrated, and you may have trouble keeping the root zone consistently moist enough in the worst of the summer heat. If I wanted to grow squash in a grow bag, I'd select one of the varieties bred expressly for growing in containers. Squash may stay too stressed when grown in containers and stressed plants attract insects more readily, so keep that in mind since squash pests almost always have trouble with squash bugs and squash vine borers even when the plants are not stressed. Shallots normally are planted in the fall, just like garlic and perennial onions. They probably would do well if planted now as I don't think they are day-length sensitive, but they will do better almost always from a fall planting. Most retailers only ship them for fall planting. Sometimes retail stores have them in bags at this time of the year because people want them and ask for them, but that doesn't necessarily mean they should be planted at this time of the year. It is doable, but it is not ideal. Beets like to germinate in warm weather and grow in cooler weather, making them ideal for a fall crop. It often can be difficult to get them to sprout outdoors in winter because the soil temperatures are so low. I don't grow beets often, but when I do, I germinate them indoors and then move them outdoors when the weather gets warmer in spring. The issue with the beet seeds being so slow to sprout in late winter/early spring is that often the seed rots in cold, wet soil or washes away in heavy rainfall or gets eaten by pests before it can sprout, and meanwhile the gardener is waiting, waiting, waiting for endless weeks for the beets to sprout. Every one of us gardens in different conditions depending on our location, the type of microclimate we have (mine is colder than the surrounding area, so I have to take that into consideration), our weather pattern in any given week, month, season or year, our soil or growing medium, etc. It takes time to work out what works for a specific gardener in their location with their specific growing conditions and their specific soil, soil pH, water, prevailing wind, etc. You shouldn't be afraid to experiment widely with how to grow different things because it is that very experimentation that will show you what works best for you. While we can offer general guidelines, none of us is growing in exactly your same location or same conditions, and most of us are not growing as much in containers as you do. Anything planted outdoors in January through March, and often April and earliest May as well, may occasionally need protection from extra-cold weather, and that is doubly true of containers since they sit above grade level and lack the insulation provided by the ground to in-ground plant roots. When you grow in a container, the plants are considered to be growing one USDA zone colder than your actual USDA zone. As Bon briefly alluded to by mentioning how some wintersown seeds can sprout here and then freeze afterwards, this is one of the hazards of wintersowing in an area that often lacks snow cover and which often has wildly erratic temperatures even in winter. People who wintersow in milk jugs that get buried in snow can rely on the snow to insulate the containers and keep the temperatures from fluctuating wildly like they do here. This both prevents germination from occurring too early and also helps keep the temperature inside the jugs from fluctuating wildly. I almost never wintersow since I have a light shelf indoors and a greenhouse outdoors. Wintersowing can be useful for perennials that need cold stratification, but I can provide that cold stratification by sowing seeds in a small flat in a sterile soil-less growing medium and then putting them in a ziplock bag in a dorm-sized fridge left over from our son's college days. We just have too much erratic winter weather most years where our highs can hit the 60s and 70s, followed by nights in the 20s and 30s or even colder, and uninsulated wintersown jugs can perform erratically in wildly fluctuating temperatures. When I wintersow, I have to keep everything in a transluscent plastic tote with a lid that snaps on securely or the varmints that roam at night will get into everything, even when I keep the wintersown stuff on the porch. When growing in containers, always use a soil-less medium made to drain exceptionally well. The specific brand doesn't matter that much as quality can be inconsistent even with well-known brands. If I wanted the best growing medium available, I'd buy Pro-Mix but it can be very pricey, and while I might use it for seed-sowing, I wouldn't spend the bucks required to fill large containers with it. The worst stuff I ever purchased was Miracle Grow Organic, which smelled terrible and killed tons of plants. I rarely lose plants, but the MG Organic killed oodles and oodles of them. I'll never, ever, ever, ever buy it again. Based on the horrific smell and the quick plant death, I'd say it had too much poultry litter or something similar in it. I'd check with a reputable local nursery that sells its own soil mixes and see if I could buy it in bulk if I had a lot of containers to fill. You can make your own using Al's 5-1-1 mix from the Container Forum here at GW or his gritty mix, but sometimes it can be hard to find all the ingredients locally.