Gardening - January

The new year is now at full speed. Unfortunately, for a gardener, things can be a bit slow. But, gardening never stops.
The weather, currently, is not very agreeable for out door activities. Last week, we had what some are calling snowmagedon. At the Glen, we got about 11 inches. That is the biggest snow since the "blizzard of '78". Fortunately, there was only a little wind with this snow. 
G and I shoveled the drive (~140 feet) twice. The snow blower was on the blitz. But, it has been repaired and is ready for the next snow.
Below are a couple of pictures of our yard. One of them will take some explaining.

The one on the bottom, is what I call the "twin towers". G calls them "the mummies". Either way what they are in reality  two fig trees. We have had them for 4 years. Currently, they  are about 6 feet tall.The last three years I have placed a huge amount of leaves around the trees, covering them completely. This has worked very well with the trees leafing out in the spring after the leaves were removed and producing some figs. The leaves were then spread over the garden area in which the figs reside. This kept the weeds down very nicely.
However, I made the "mistake" of showing G a web site that a fig grower exclaimed how he wrapped them in insulation and clear plastic sheeting and claimed it works great. The limbs of a fig tree are very limber. G wanted to try it. So, we did. The results won't be known until probably late April. Until then, our poor fig trees stand silently waiting to be unwrapped and drink in the sun of 2014. And, I'll have to figure out something else to mulch the bed with.

As I said, gardeners don't go dormant in the winter. So, you ask, "What do gardeners do to keep busy in the frozen months?" Well, they dream. Companies send us catalogs full of seeds and plants to buy to grow and eat and enhance the beauty of our gardens. It continues to amaze me how great a variety of plant life there is that God has created. I have, presently, about 12 different catalogs and will get more; I'm sure. I'll get multiple copies from some of the same companies offering discounts if I buy by Jan.31, Feb. 15, March 31 etc. Timing my purchase is important to get the best deal. Further more, I don't just look at them one time, but a multitude of times. It beats watching commercials on TV. 

I'll make my first order by the end of the month, so I'll have the seeds in plenty of time to do another thing that gardeners do in the cold weather; start their plants. But, that's another posting.