Pacific Northwest Gardening: Tilly's Little Acre, 1 by Catma33

Catma33 wrote:
Oh, thank you for the link to the artichoke growers. I didn't know I could order them direct!

I grew up in Walnut Creek (the east part of the San Fransico Bay Area). It would get real hot there during the summer, but it rarely went below 28 degrees a few times during the winter. We always had at least 8 artichoke plants growing. My dad would whack them down to the ground after they finished producing and looked bad, water them a little through the summer. Then as soon as the fall rains would start, they would start growing again. By spring they were producing full tilt. I remember going out with a bucket and coming in with 20 or 30 every few days for a couple of months. He grew these from the same plants for 30 years, just dividing and moving them. They were the green globe type, not the heat tolerant ones that curve toward the center, those are really tough. In the store, if you ever see a dry brown scuzy layer on the outer leaves, don't worry about it, that is just frost burn. Since our harvest will be during the summer, we won't be seeing that on our own artichokes.

When I moved here I found some plants at the nursery and put them in the ground, they did not do well. I mulched them over the winter with bark mulch. They just weren't happy. Then it finally occurred to me that they don't like acid soil, they want the opposite. So I removed the bark mulch, put down lime, then mulched with compost. They were much happier. I have a bad habit of forgetting to fertilize. I think failing to fertilze enough and not having them on the irrigation system were my big mistakes this year. I did put boards around the area as if I were building a raised bed, that holds the compost and makes weeding easier. I will add more compost and throw fall leaves on top of them for winter protection. I am determined to find the right conditions -- I want my artichokes! LOL

I remember they came up in April and got slapped down several times with hard freezes. Now that I have the wooden sides around them, maybe I can figure out a way to put some metal or plastic hoops in the ground and cover them with plastic -- of course trying to devise something that the wind storms won't destroy is another matter. I live down on the south end of Camano, the skinny part where the wind storms can be really bad.

When I moved here, my neighbors said it only snowed a couple of inches and usually didn't stick. The picture was my first snow and the power was out for 4 days, all electric house, 35 degrees inside. Then last year it was 18 inches deep again, but at least the power outages were shorter. I am blessedly lucky to work from home and I don't drive in snow and ice -- I don't know how and I would be a menace to anyone else on the road -- and that truck is about the worst vehicle to attempt it. During the winter I stock up 3 weeks worth of supplies, I now have a propane heat stove and generator for power outages, and I have satellite TV. I started out unprepared my first year, but at least I'm not too old to learn. LOL