Cheers!!! rcantor, I really appreciate your responses, It makes me feel more confident that I'm doing the right thing by this figgy. It's going to be mild here today so I'm going outside to do more yard work in preparation for the season in about an hour. Firstly, I will attend to the fig tree and do exactly as you said, I have all the supplies ready :o). I also got 2 suckers from my hubby's aunts fig tree ( variety unknown ) yesterday, plus a few cuttings, so i'm going to try planting the suckers directly into the garden soil, with some soil ammendments to improve drainage. I live 2 blocks from the beach, so we have sandy soil as it is, which helps a lot. Hubby's aunt has had her fig tree for many years, she took cuttings from the original tree she had up in north Jersey and started a new tree here 19 years ago. She stopped covering it in the winter some years back too, and it does just fine, survived hurricane Sandy and produces delicious figs every year. :o)
Thanks again, wish me luck!!!