My Cold Frame

This fall/winter/spring was my second year using a cold frame.  Both years, I've used a simple and effective design: old tent poles covered by plastic sheeting over my 4x4 raised bed. Last fall, we built the cold frame in early November when the frost started to settle in and then opened it up for fresh air on warm winter days.

Hooking the tent poles into a little mounted PCV pipe.

We rolled the plastic around an old piece of wood trim.

My handy husband nailed this to edge of the raised bed.

We flipped the plastic over the tent frame and then nailed the second side from within to create a nice waterproof seal.

The plastic meeting the wood, with the nailing inside.

The finished product.

Fast forward to March... and look what we found: kale, arugula, rosemary, and Swiss chard.

And from the other side: parsley, chives, and bok choy.

I watered the garden a few times, but it generally kept moisture in quite well over the months. I watch the weather for nights when the temperature goes down to freezing and make sure everything is closed up tight and then open the cold frame up for the warm spring weather. I will wait until there isn't any further risk of frost (about mid-April) and I'll take it back down for the year.