After reading up on winter gardening, I immediately knew that we needed to try a cold frame. A cold frame is a box sunk into the ground in which you can grow vegetables into the winter, and also start your plants earlier in the spring. The book includes plans for building a cold frame, but the instructions are a bit mixed up (the wood shown isn't the size of the wood you should be buying - i.e. it will say you need a 2x4 when you actually need a 2x6). However, my wonderful husband Matt was able to figure it all out, and he went out and got everything we needed in the proper size.
Our friends Kat and Dave came by to help us get started last weekend. Our two families have been exchanging produce and labor all summer. For instance, Kat helped me pit cherries, so I helped her harvest her elder flowers. Since they helped out with the cold frame, we'll be heading over to their house to help them with their next project. I've really enjoyed this exchange all summer, and I look forward to continuing it next year!
Anyway, Dave and Matt were able to construct the lid, for which we used some plexiglass that we had left over from another project. Because we already had that bit of material, we decided to construct the box to fit the plexiglass. Therefore, the cold frame is about 2.5'x5'. I was going to start digging the hole to sink it in the ground, but I got stung by the same honeybee three times, and it got me all out of sorts.
This weekend, Matt finished up constructing the cold frame while I finished digging the hole. We decided to place it behind the garage, as it's recommended that the cold frame face south. Most of the yard is shadowed by the garage, the peach trees, or the school, but the backside of the garage gets a LOT of sun. I had to move one of my burning bushes in order to make room for the cold frame. It may not survive the transplant, but since none of the three bushes have ever turned bright red like they're supposed to, so no big loss.
Last week I contacted Julie, Inc. to have them come out and mark any buried lines in our backyard. They have a great online form now. (Julie is just for Illinois, so if you're in a different state, make sure you find out who to call!) That's very important so that you don't hit a gas line or electrocute yourself! We didn't have anything in our backyard, so I was able to dig without any concerns.
I made the hole slightly larger than the cold frame so that I could fill in some dirt around the sides and about 8"-12" deep. It took me a ridiculous amount of time to dig it. I'm so spoiled by the sandy soil up in Michigan, where digging a hole for a tree takes about 30 seconds. This took me about three hours. Cruddy clay soil. I decided I would make a rubbish grave digger; after all, I'm an old-fashioned girl.
While I was doing that, Matt was building the rest of the cold frame. He actually did most of the work while I was working yesterday morning, which was a nice surprise to come home to! Because he worked on it while I was gone, I don't really have any photos.
The finished product is quite nice. We still have to put some weather stripping on the lid to keep out the elements, but otherwise, it's done!
Finally, we put it in the ground. I filled in soil all around the sides and in the back for extra protection) and because I ran out of places to dump the soil that I dug out. I also put a few inches back inside the bottom. I then added two bags of nice top soil.
The last thing to do is start planting my seeds, although it might be too late to get any significant harvest. Seeds are supposed to be sowed about 12 weeks prior to the first frost to give the plants time to grow. However, the cold frame had to be installed now anyway, because I'll start sowing my spring plants in February or March!!! Today we opened the lid, and heat just about came billowing out. So, I'm quite pleased with how this turned out! If you want to make your own cold frame, go check out The Year-Round Vegetable Gardener.
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