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RE: Sore Muscles & A Sense of Satisfaction: Weekend Garden Journal
Nice! Looks like your garden is doing really well. I'm hoping my artichokes do better next year and give me a harvest. Still learning how to grow them. Lemons are on my list of fruit trees to try growing here--really pushing it but I think I can create a warm enough micro-climate ;) Sometimes I wish my area was a bit warmer but then I don't really like the heat... lol, thanks for sharing how things are going for you! Spring for your and fall here! Good luck with the lasagna method for for your soil!
Definitely micro climates for lemons - against a warm protected wall is best! If you have snow or heavy frosts that could be a real issue, unless you want to do what they did in the old days and light fires amongst the orchards! But I'm sure certain varieties and microclimates woudl do better than others.
As for my artichokes, goodness, they are thistles, and I would say neglect worked for me! Actually, because of their location, I often spread the straw from the chook coop around there when I cut them down after the season, acting as a mulch against weeds of course but clearly chicken waste helps them along a little - also I chuck a handful or two of blood and bone on them once in a while.
One of my artichokes seems to not like the spot I put it but the other one is doing good. I'm going to add some more later. The main issue was their flower buds were too small to really use this year. I'm hoping they get bigger next year now that my one artichoke is more established.
I found some semi-cold hardy lemon varieties but they are borderline here. I need to make some nice micro-climates first. But I'm excited to try out kumquats--they seem to be a citrus that would handle the winters here fine without even needing a micro-climate :)