I grew an artichoke plant this year, I'm wondering why the fruit is so small?

I live here in Albuquerque New Mexico, where the summers are hot and dry, which I've heard the plants don't like. They get plenty of water and where they're planted has good drainage. They don't seem to have a bug problem. (The bugs seem to like the tomato plant across the way.) Two of the four plants started flowering this year, which is suprising since we just planted them in April. Im concerned though because they fruit they have produced, are very small and they dont have very much meat on them. They are smaller then my fist and I have very small hands. They've already started to open. Is there anything that I can do to prevent this from happening next year? Does anyone even know why this is happening? I've given them so much love and water that it's confusing