Friday, January 07, 2011

whats in the cold frame

cold frame 015

A couple weeks ago, I covered my cold frame with a tarp to protect against the snow of its first winter. Today I peeked under. Everything looks good. Spinach, lettuce, escarole, and broccoli. Temperatures have been about 32-35 inside (on a remote thermometer) even when its very cold outside. The plants are still small and aren't growing any more. I'm hoping they'll survive the winter and grow again when sun and temp's increase. We'll see. I have to remember to bring a bucket of water out - they tend to dry out.

7 comments:

biobabbler said...

aw, they are so CUTE! =) Hee. Thanks for sharing. Delightful.

Toni said...

Oh, I loved taking a peek into your cold frame! Your plants look really healthy!

I'm due to water the plants in my "little hoop house that could!"

Randy Emmitt said...

Kathy,

Looks good in there! Our cold frames have been covered with snow four times and expect more this evening. We are eating twice a week from the cold frame, kale, mustard greens, rape and lettuce.

meemsnyc said...

Temps that low and everything is growing! How excellent!

Marian(LondonUK) said...

Kathy your garden cold frame has been a brilliant and productive addition to your growing year. Again you have inspired me to rustle one up. I read an article by a recycling guru who suggests a short wall of bricks with a window over it, plus warm material for frost protection. Looks like I will be cruising the rubbish skips outside houses being updated!
Thanks for all your great tips and posts.
Marian (London UK)

kathy said...

I love the "little hoop house that could"! That's great. My cold frame should have a similar name.

The plants in it are hanging in there - but are NOT growing now. Too cold and dark right now.

Thanks for the reminder of rubbish cruising Marion. I drove by a house that must have cleaned out their garage today and I want to go back tomorrow with time to help myself. They are throwing out a wheelbarrow, rakes, shovels etc. I will gather them up for the community garden!

Sounds great Randy! Next year I hope to have bigger plants in my frame. I never expected it to do so well. But they need to be fully grown by early Nov, because mine didn't grow after that.

Anonymous said...

Looks great. We didn't get our frames on in time, alas -- winter was upon us before we could cover our spinach and Chinese greens. It's tough being a weekend warrior when the weather can turn on a dime; the last Sunday in November, I was literally mowing the lawn. By the next Saturday, we were knee-high in snow.
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