Harvest to Table

Use a cold frame to extend the growing season fall into early winter and late winter into spring and protect plants in summer and winter. Insulate the cold frame with sheet plastic or thick rigid urethane to protect plants in mid-winter; replace the cold frame lid with lath in summer to create a lath house. [...]

A cold frame can help you extend your growing season by capturing the warming rays of the winter sun and holding them. Even the simplest cold frame can lengthen your growing season by several weeks. To get the most out of your cold frame give some forethought to the site where it will best perform. [...]

Boards, planks, bricks, concrete blocks, even bales of hay or mounded soil can be used to make a cold frame. Often a home-made cold frame is a simple four-sided wooden box with no bottom and a clear glass or plastic top. A cold frame can be permanent or portable. Cold frames can vary in size: [...]

As the seasons progress there are several uses for a cold frame. • Start cool-temperature spring vegetable seeds and seedlings in late winter. • Start summer warm-temperature vegetable seeds and seedlings beginning in early- or mid-spring. • Start fall and winter crops under shade cover (replace the frame’s glass or plastic sash with framed shade [...]

A cold frame is a bottomless box with a clear or translucent top. It is set on the ground or over a planting bed to capture solar energy and heat the air, soil, and plants inside. A cold frame can extend the growing season by one to several months. Cold frames can be made of [...]

A cold frame can keep plants 7° to 10ºF warmer than outdoors, sometimes as much as 20ºF warmer. Use a cold frame in spring to give seedlings a head start on the growing season and protect them from spring frosts. Use a cold frame in autumn to extend the summer and fall growing season into [...]