Unique (and Cheap!) Cold Frame Design

By Gregory Doyle
Published on November 7, 2014
article image
Photo by Gregory Doyle
This recycled cold frame design was made out of a discarded skylight, cinder blocks and a few bricks.

A neighbor of mine remodeled his house and I noticed a couple of used skylights near his dumpster. He was happy to let me have them. I laid some cinder blocks in a rectangle, topped them off with bricks and filled the bed with soil. Next, I laid a skylight on top of the cinder blocks, unhinged, so I can simply lift it off when needed.

I didn’t use mortar to cement the bricks together with this cold-frame design, so this way I can remove a few bricks for ventilation, or add a second row of bricks as the seedlings grow and the frame needs to be heightened. After I transplant my seedlings into the garden, I use the soil and box as a planter for wildflowers.

Gregory Doyle
Scituate, Massachusetts

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