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.

Kale for dinner

Last year, I had heaps and heaps of kale and I just didn't know what to do. This year, I could go for more! I don't think that I've grown less, it's just that now I know that we love to eat fresh kale.

It's kind of a funny looking green that doesn't get a lot of credit. Kale is a good source of dietary fiber, protein, thiamin, riboflavin, folate, iron, magnesium and phosphorus, and a very good source of vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin K, vitamin B6, calcium, potassium, copper and manganese. It's pretty much chucked full of goodness.

Red Winter Kale inside the cold frame (purple stocks in the background)

Siberian Kale

I grew two varieties this year. I planted Red Winter Kale in the cold frame over the winter, which grew up to be our very first greens already in March. And then in early spring outside, I planted Siberian Kale.

We've been adding raw kale to loads of salads and making some salads with kale as the sole green. I also saute it to include in quiche or as a cooked side dish. We also dried a bunch in our dehydrator to make kale chips (seasoned with olive oil, honey and salt). Our favorite recipe is this salad, which I adapted from a Cooks Illustrated recipe for Best Sweet and Tangy Coleslaw.

kale (bountiful bowl full)
2-3 tbsp. parsley
1 granny smith apple
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp. olive oil
fresh ground pepper
1 tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. kosher salt

First, mix on the dressing:

• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• fresh ground black pepper
 

cut from the garden for salad

Put the mixed dressing in the freezer while you prepare the kale. Clean and trim a big bunch of kale. De-stem, wash, dry (salad spinner) and thinly slice kale. Take out the dressing and massage into kale until well covered, but not dripping. Refrigerate in the serving bowl.

Cut up a granny smith apple into 1/4 thick thin slices. Chop 2 tablespoons of parsley (cilantro would also work well).  Take out the salad, massage the kale again, add the apples and parsley. Mix gently and then sprinkle salt and sugar over the top. Refrigerate until you are ready to serve.

This salad is best eaten when served, as it gets soggy the longer it sits. Alas, I don't have a picture because we usually gobble it up so fast!

Get some kale from the farmer's market while you can. This green doesn't like the heat and will wilt away soon!

how my garden grows

Kale, swiss chard, spinach, lettuce, chives, parsley and PEAS are thriving in the garden and on the dinner plate. Our zone 7b climate is by now quite lush and we've had our first set of days in the 90s. I'm hoping the weather will stay cool enough to keep enjoying the lettuces, spinach and peas that faded so quickly with the heat last year. I've already had a lot more greens this year and we've been freely enjoying salads from the garden.

Tomatoes are in the ground and starting to bloom. I've been sharing the left over plants with anyone and everyone that I can interest. There's only a handful left and it's been loads of fun to find homes for the others. It's amazing how many tomato seeds, plants and fruit that can be shared from just a few packs of seeds. I love it and happy to get others involved!

Brandywine tomato blossoms

Brandywine tomato plant (love that texture!)

Green Zebra tomato blossoms

Siberian kale

Romaine lettuce

Swiss chard

Little Gem Romaine lettuce

Freckles Romaine lettuce

Little Marvel pea blossom

Pea pods - my favorite from the spring garden

Royal Burgundy bean blossom

Spacemaster cucumber

purple asparagus

Greek oregano

purple cone flower

new stone path!

dinner

It's not over yet!

While I have been silent, the garden grows. The season has certainly turned, but that doesn't mean I'm done for the year - I'm working on my next harvest!


I've planted a whole new set of seedlings, which are slowly making their way to maturity. There's only one pepper left, but the carrots keep coming in from the summer. Most of the herbs are looking good still too - plenty of basil, rosemary, oregano and chives.

I'm most excited for the peas! I planted the same Little Marvel Dwarf Peas as in the spring, and they are blooming. I found a little trellis that's perfect for the pea plant vines.




Red Winter Kale, Purple and While Vienna Blend Kohlrabi, Cherry Bell Radish, and broccoli too. The seedlings are still small and I hope they keep growing for a full harvest! They looked quite magical this morning, with drops of dew remaining.



It's the time for lettuce and I have in the raised beds, in pots and everything I can think to grow it.




As the days grow dark and the air cool, pansies show their true color.