Yeah, there's no getting used to it when it changes every two days.
I guess the garlic mulch is really being tested. Pouring rain today then down to -3 tonight and down again to -11 C (12 F) the next night with no snow cover expected.
That is probably about as severely cold as it normally gets here, not counting windchills.
OTOH I'm thinking it is a bad winter for rats as well.
For sure they count on the snow cover to provide a place for them to shelter. Minus 11 might be enough to freeze em in their ground burrows without the snow to insulate em.
Or so I'm hoping. I feel mean and cruel saying that, but... if nature can reduce that population, it is for the best.