[Ravenlost]

Hubby and I are planning to do some work in the garden this weekend (his "weekend" is Monday and Tuesday) so I was doing some research on building a cold frame. We're planning to put in a large Fall garden that we hope to carry into the winter.

I stumbled across this site and thought others might be interested in it:

http://www.savvygardener.com/Features/cold_frames-hotbeds.html

It talks about building a hotbed using very strawy manure. Would this mixture work to keep the cold frame warm during cold winter days if it was piled up against the outside of the cold frame?

 

[MELOC]

how about a cell inside for the manure?

 

[naturewoman]

Hot beds are heated by soil-heating cables (Fig. 1); steam-carrying pipes; or fresh, strawy manure buried beneath the rooting zones of the plants.

You dig a deep trench, and line the bottom deeply with the strawy manure, then put planting mix (less hot) on top of that (deep enough for the plant roots) and enclose the hot box with plastic or glass on top. I'm thinking of doing this with some hay bales for sides around the trench, and my old wood and glass window panes on top.

 

[Ravenlost]

I'm getting some old windows from my parents' place next time I'm there. I guess I'll build a hotbed instead of a cold frame.

Hmmm...wonder how a cold frame built of concrete blocks that are filled with the strawy manure mixture would work?

 

[naturewoman]

A hot frame is just a cold frame with a source of heat in it (the manure)...But the trick to either one is to dig a pit and plant down in the ground, so the soil surrounding the pit helps hold in heat. The hot mix buried deep in the soil will hold it's heat a lot longer that being in a raised-bed garden like blocks. It will still produce heat as it breaks down, but the heat loss will be much greater as it passes through the bricks without the mass of soil to contain it. At least thats the way I understand them to work.

 

[Ravenlost]

Ah...makes sense.

 

[Ernie]

What does one grow in a hotbed/cold frame? I've got all the materials needed to put these together, but I lack a purpose.

Incidentally, I'm using old cut-up telephone poles and a patio door for mine. Neighbors have become accustomed to me scrounging through the junk piles.

 

[Paquebot]

What does one grow in a hotbed/cold frame? I've got all the materials needed to put these together, but I lack a purpose.

The primary purpose of cold frames was always to safely start plants which otherwise would be subject to frost damage. That is, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, brassica, etc. Hotbeds were to get an even earlier start. Advantage of both was sturdy plants to set out into the gardens as versus straggly seedlings with only window light.

Martin

 

[Ravenlost]

I'm going to grow lettuce, carrots, etc. in mine this Fall and hopefully into the winter (we don't really have any extremely cold weather except in late Jan-Feb).