Use Cold Frames to Grow More Food
(Page 3 of 4)
December 2007/January 2008
By Barbara Pleasant, Illustrations by Elayne Sears
Another option is to use the warmth generated by rotting hay to heat your cold frame from the sides. If you have plenty of space available and you plan to mulch with hay or straw this season anyway, go ahead and get four bales and arrange them in a semicircle on ready-to-plant ground, with the open side facing south. Plant the middle, and then top the bales with a wide sheet of plastic stapled to two 2-by-4s; one board will lie atop the back bales, and the other will anchor the plastic to the ground in front. You can make a bigger hay bale haven by arranging seven or eight bales in a square, and topping the enclosure with an old window, glass door or piece of sheet vinyl or corrugated fiberglass. Or, make your bales go twice as far by breaking them in half and encircling your planting with half bales, set side by side with their cut sides out. Allow the broken bales to get nice and damp before you plant, and then cover the bed and bales with a large piece of plastic sheeting. As the wet hay decomposes, much of the heat it releases will stay inside the bed.
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To prepare a hot bed, warm bed or solar-charged cold frame when the soil is frozen, simply place a closed frame over the spot for several days. Daytime heating will thaw the soil inside, an inch or two at a time.
Various types of cold frames are multiplying like rabbits in my garden. With the help of the frames, spring now comes to my garden at least six weeks ahead of schedule.
Top 12 Winter Cold Frame Crops
These 12 vegetables are easy to grow when sown in cold frames in late winter.
- Arugula
- Broccoli
- Beets
- Cabbage
- Chard
- Chinese cabbage
- Green onion
- Kale
- Lettuce
- Mustard
- Radish
- Spinach
Milk Jug Seed Starters
This simple technique was developed for seeds that need to spend a winter outside before they will germinate, but it’s also a great method to start garden seeds in late winter if you don’t have indoor lights or a cold frame.
- Cut a gallon milk jug (or other large plastic container) in half horizontally, leaving one edge intact to use as a hinge. Discard the cap.
- Punch several drainage holes in the bottom.
- Fill the bottom with 3 inches of potting soil, moisten well and plant your seeds.
- Fold down the top cover, and secure the cut seam with duct tape. Enclose the planted jug in a large clear or opaque plastic bag (such as a produce bag), held together at the top with a twist tie.
- Place in a sunny, protected spot outdoors.
- One week before transplanting, harden off seedlings by removing the bag and tape, and propping the jug open with clothespins.
