
Jenny asked for a cold frame a long time ago, and I obliged a long
time ago with some quick-and-dirty plywood boxes with plastic sheets
over the top. In Minnesota, they don’t really do the job. We might
get another week or two of growing at the beginning and end of the
season, but beyond that we’re still reduced to a not-so-sunny indoors,
or grow lights, and shallow soil, and lots of watering – not the thing
for an enthusiastic-but-lazy gardener. And the plastic-sheet cover
quickly gets tattered from repeated openings and closings (to vent, to plant
seedlings, or just to check on the plants) – it looks shabby, and
(more important for the lazy gardener) it has to be replaced too
often.
So when Jenny asked for a cold frame again this year, and I agreed –
who doesn’t like fresh baby lettuce greens in January? – I decided to
try to do it right. I wanted one that would:
- really insulate the plants inside,
- last for years,
- require minimal maintenance, and most importantly,
- be easy to build for a well-intentioned but skill- and tool-challenged person like me.
I looked around on the web (it occurs to me now that I should have
checked the library, too, but it’s
too late for that now). I thought about it. And I looked around some
more. I spent enough time looking around that Jenny gave up on me, and
frost overtook the garden, but I hadn’t given up.
I didn’t find one design that had everything I wanted, but I found two
that were close:
“Mother’s” cold frame is well-insulated, and the article explains the
lessons of experience behind its design, but the how-to instructions
were not specific enough for me. That’s what led me to the Garden Gate
design – I think I can build it from the materials list and picture
they provided. And I can always add extra insulation or a buried
extension later – so it will be more like Mother’s design, eventually.
I’ve gathered (almost) all the parts for my cold frame (with a couple
of splinters to show for it), but the most important part is still
missing: the clear top. I’m looking for a local source for structured
polycarbonate sheeting, but haven’t found it yet.