For record keeping, what follows is a running list of monthly garden activity I haven’t mentioned in journal posts:

• Two weeks of below freezing temps have kept the gardens beneath snow. Coldest year yet since moving into Coppertop three years ago. early January

• Made a large batch of raspberry ginger lime jam from Coppertop’s frozen raspberries. early January
• Dreaming big dahlia dreams while planning to add another generous bed of the beauties near the house. Have ordered over a dozen new varieties, focusing on peaches, bronzes, whites, and golds. mid January
• Hellebores are pushing through, with one already in bloom. mid January

• Second small collection of bigleaf maple sap boiled down to another cup of syrup. Don’t know if I’ll get a good quantity this year. mid January
• Hubby transplanted the two large Ceanothus ‘Dark Star’ (purchased as 1-gallons in May 2014) beneath the large Douglas Fir. late January

• Set vole traps inside the mini hoop houses since I’ve been losing half of my winter veggie crops to the little critters. late January