Coldframe

Excellent idea.

-- Gardening is Great Therapy!!.....Georgian Bay area....zone 5b

Congratulations on your new cold frame! I use one too. We made it from an old window we found stored up in the attic of our barn. I have found that it really extends the season. A green house sounds lovely, I look forward to reading about/seeing your progress.

-- Robin, Massachusetts - "Live simply so others can simply live." M. Gandhi

Nice cold frame.Great idea.I need something like that here.

-- Bon,Hastings,Ont.....zone 5a....Always room for one more

Just opened it for the day (a little late, but it’s very overcast). As soon as we put it on, the lettuce I seeded in August or so but had been growing very, very slowly because we had an early cold snap and hard frost in early October started to really take off and turned a much more vibrant green. The chard is looking much better, too. That catalogna puntarelle on the left there (the long, thin leaves) has been going strong all season through all conditions, as has the mizuna on the right. Neither attempted to bolt. I love it. I’m hoping to find time to seed some more arugula and things in there tomorrow, as starting this morning (in our area) is one of the best few days of the year to plant for above-ground growth or transplant, graft or irrigate, according to my solar-lunar calendar. But today I need to get ready for our sauerkraut workshop tonight! Off to create a flier…

Well done. My dad used to have a big one attached to the coal shute area of his house, so it got some warmth from the basement. I sometimes wish that I had one here. Thanks for sharing.

-- jroot

I have a bunch of old windows and coldframes are an “easy make” so I ask

How many weeks do you gain by having cold frames ?

When can you put plants in them?..........

Do you close the window and allow the sun to heat the soil before adding plants ?

Do you put the plants in the soil or in pots/containers?

-- Central northish Ontario

Greenthumb, I found that it extended my gardening season by about two months but I could extend it more if I used it in the fall as well. I did let the sun warm up the box and soil for a few days before I planted my seeds. When it was cold, I kept the window down. On warm, sunny days, I could prop the window open to release the heat. On warm days, I found that the soil in the cold frame dried out faster than the surrounding garden and so I checked to see if they needed water daily until the sprouts had really taken hold. I never opened the window until after the plants had sprouted and grown because it was still too cold. I put my seeds straight into the soil but you could do it in containers as well. By the middle of May, I removed the cold frame from the garden the the plants were already producing a harvest.

-- Robin, Massachusetts - "Live simply so others can simply live." M. Gandhi

so much to do

so little time

-- Central northish Ontario

cool… or warm.. lol :)

thanks for the info… Greenthumb, I was going to ask the same thing. I need a “how to blog” ... hmmm between this and the Winter Challenge process -.. nice!

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a) http://www.execulink.com/~yohan

Wow that is nice, thanks for making me feel bad: My friend gave me a few brand new thermal windows his son didn’t need. I could have been growing in my own cold frame, maybe I will anyway. Still arm here.
Thanks. nice job
Go for it, beautiful plants.

-- If you always do what you always did, then you will always get what you always got!...Lanoka Harbor, NJ 6b

In reply to Greenthumb: I usually gain 4-6 weeks using cold frames, and like Radicalfarmergal I warm up the box for a few days before putting my plants in for hardening. I prefer to put my plants in containers as they will usually be crops/ herbs I grow ahead of season and it’s easier for me to take them in and out of the cold frame once they are ‘ready’. I also use old blankets for insulation during winter.

-- John | http://www.cavalok.com/