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| Here's the covered artichoke bed. |
Remember how I decided to try overwintering our artichoke plants? Well, I just checked on them yesterday and was pleasantly surprised.
Here in the Inland Northwest, we have to grow artichokes as annuals because they just won't survive our winters. Or perhaps I should say our "normal" winters? Aside from some cold snaps, this winter has been relatively mild.
A quick recap: When we started getting frosts in the fall, I covered the bed with floating row cover to give the plants a few degrees of frost protection. As it got colder, I added a layer of greenhouse plastic over the bed. That seems to have done the job.
Yesterday, I pulled back the cover and discovered that the plants have some small green sprouts and the old leaves don't look fried from the cold temperatures at all. Hooray!
I also noticed some moss has grown on the soil surface but those can easily be weeded out once spring gets here. Then I'll cover the soil with a thick layer of mulch to retard weed growth and increase moisture retention.
After snapping a few quick photos, I re-covered the artichoke bed and am hoping Mother Nature doesn't have any big surprises for us, in between now and springtime!
I'll do another update at that point.
