Western Mountains and High Plains region host

Looks like I am the new WM&HP regional host.  Those initials sound like they should be a candy related to M&Ms.  I am always intrigued by different peoples strategies to make our admittedly challenging region work for their gardens.  

I am in Montana, Bozeman area, and grew up in MIssoula area.  So I went uphill to a colder zone than what I grew up in.  I started with the original SFG book in the early 80s while living in SanDeigo.  When I moved back home I had so much room and lots of time and a need to grow mountains of food for a growing family with little money so I did wide row gardening.  I used SFG ideas of plant spacings in rows 18"-2' wide by 15' long for a garden 1500sf.  But I found I wanted a dedicated raised bed/cold frame for lettuce, so I laid down an old bookshelf of composite something or other and filled it half way with good soil and compost and a bit of sand stolen from the kids sand pile.  And then came a bed for broccoli.  and then a bed for peas.  and you know how that goes.  Now there is a 8x12 greenhouse and 9 beds in an area maybe a third of the original garden. 

Some topics that seem especially pertinent to our area~
~Climate defense, whether greenhouses, shelter belts, lee of buildings, row covers, wind breaks.
~Varieties that can produce with short seasons, wind, aridity, July snow/hail.
~What else?

Thanks for volunteering to be our host Turan

Thank you, Turan, for hosting this region. I admire anyone who takes on this job.

Thanks.

Turan,

You are a wonderful asset to this region!