Looking at the thermometer today... It's 98F (36C)! Yet, in only two days, we are supposed to have snow! That's life in the Rocky Mountains!!!

So, today, it was back over to the garden to see what we can quickly winterize. The priority is the artichokes. I also decided if there was enough straw, we'd put some over the pepper plant and see if we can winter it as well.

We had a couple of surprises when we looked around. Firstly, very near the watermelons was this...

A little pumpkin! So cool! It's about the same size as the watermelons.

Also, on my tomato plants are about a dozen green tomatoes. I found these as I was taking starts off the tomato plants. Last year, I began the winter with three plants that I took starts off of. I began this season with a dozen... I now have about a dozen starts to overwinter. I shouldn't need to buy any plants next year.

Decisions, decisions...

I decided to leave the tomatoes where they are. I will come back on Wed or Thurs after the snow falls (and hopefully melts!) If they don't look good, I'll harvest and make a green tomato chutney from them.

Same with my melons and corn... Once the foliage begins to die back, I'll be able to see more. I'll also use all that dead foliage to further mulch my tender plants as we're expecting a colder-than-usual and snowier-than-usual winter.

Even the cabbages should be okay in the cold, (even if they weren't, I don't have much that I can do about them...)

If anything begins to look bad, I'll bring them in.

Mulching the Artichokes

We started with a piece of livestock fencing I found over the summer. I surrounded my two plants as well as I could. (Ideally, I'd like the piece just a little longer so that I could give a wider berth around the plants.)

Then, we started spreading the straw over the artichokes, and around them as well. I'm trying to trap as much of the warmer air around the plant and give good insulation between the plant and the cold air that's going to hit on Monday.

I know the concept works because I've seen snow trapped under straw before - still frozen while the air around it was in the 80s. But it's still scary. Will my lovely plants survive? (I still figure they will have a better chance this way than any other method of overwintering.)

Before it Snows

One last look at the overgrown garden before the cold begins its cruel assault on the growth... Next week, it will look very different, I believe.

Photos taken in September 2020 with my Nikon D7200.

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Lori Svensen
author/designer at A'mara Books
photographer/graphic artist for Viking Visual
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