Inexpensive “Cold Frames” — Our Solution to Our Short Growing Season
We really have to work around our short growing season here. If we wait to set out seedlings until all danger of frost is past… and this can be as late as the first two weeks of June… we end up with too late a start on the garden because we can also get frosts on the other end of the growing season as early as late August. Covering plants to protect them gets old very quickly, we have found, especially when you have a lot of plants to protect, like we do. Traditional cold frames never seemed like a practical idea for us either. We needed something that offered frost protection on a large scale, could be left in place without having to be adjusted, and most important of all, something that was really inexpensive. Our solution… “cold frames” made with one-by-one supports instead of solid wood and heavy duty woven blue drop cloths instead of glass!
We discovered how well these frames worked for this purpose quite by accident one year when an exceptionally cold period, complete with heavy hail, was predicted for our area. We had just transplanted nearly two hundred small hosta seedlings into one garden a few days before, and we needed to come up with something that would protect them from the expected hail. We ended up using drop cloths (the woven kind, NOT plastic) and wooden frames to keep the weight of the cloth off the hostas. We fastened sections of drop cloth to the top of the frames and along two sides, but we left the drop cloth on the other two sides unfastened but long enough to reach the ground. By fastening a long, heavy, wooden cleat to the bottom edges to serve as a weight, the frame could be closed in for protection… but lifting the cleats to the top of the frame would leave opposite sides open so air could flow through.
We made the frames with a slanting front so the rain (and hail) would drain off. I don’t remember the dimensions of those first drop cloth cold frames, but we would have adapted the traditional cold frame idea of a six to nine inch slope for a four-foot frame and nine to twelve inch slope for a six-foot frame. We made these first frames strictly to protect the hostas from the hail and realized only afterward that this type of drop cloth shelter would also let air and filtered light through to the plants and protect the young seedlings from the harsh sun. These first drop cloth frames and the plants under them suffered no damage despite the really large hail, and since more cold weather was predicted, we ended up leaving the cold frames in place for several more weeks. The hostas continued to thrive.
The next spring we decided to make taller drop cloth cold frames for our tomato seedlings, and we have used them ever since. We can usually get the tomato seedlings transplanted in mid-May, and with the drop cloth protection from the sun and wind we don’t even bother to harden off the seedlings any more. The tomato seedlings just get planted in their permanent positions in the garden… we put the cold frames over them and leave them in place until all danger of frost is gone. On the nights when frost is predicted, we lower the end cleats to the ground to give the plants full protection.
My husband cut two-by-fours to make the one-by-one supports for the frames, and we use the same supports and drop cloth sections every year. My husband uses screws to assemble the supports and fastens the drop cloths to the supports with thin cleats and screws. When we no longer need the frames, he takes them apart, and the pieces are easily stored for another year.
Obviously the bees don’t mind using the side ventilation openings to get to the plants. Most years we already have blossoms and a few small tomatoes forming on the plants before most people in this area are starting to set out their transplants.
Written by Shirley | Filed Under Doing It Ourselves, Frugality, Personal, Plants in my Gardens, Simple Living, Voluntary Simplicity
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Comments
Comment by Rhonda:
Hi! I noticed you have a lot of posts regarding hostas…. I really want to plant a garden this year, and would like to try my hand at hostas. Do you have a recommended place to start? Should I look online to find a place to order the hosta seeds, or would you recommend a local nursery? I live in CA, and have OSH, Lowe’s, and a Capital Nursery nearby. Thank you!
Comment by Shirley:
Rhonda, I would recommend starting with hosta plants, not seeds. I have not been happy with purchased hosta seeds. This is just my own experience, of course, but any purchased hosta seeds I have tried have had an almost nonexistent germination rate. If you decide you want to try seeds later, you will have much better results with germination with your own collected seeds. Also, since hostas are hybrids, you cannot grow a hosta from seed that is the same as the parent plant.
You will be able to find hosta plants at any nursery or even the stores like Lowe’s and Home Depot, and the small hostas are quite inexpensive. Be very careful to examine the plants before you buy, though. Many areas have a huge problem with the hosta virus, and one infected plant can spread the virus to other hostas quite easily. The hosta virus is something you really want to avoid.
Comment by Amanda:
What a great creative idea! We’re working on expanding our garden this year. I’ll have to pass your ideas onto my husband. He’s the handy builder in our family.
Comment by Elizabeth:
This sounds like such a wonderful idea! Could you post a picture to show what these cold frames look like? We have raised beds, and have been trying to figure out a creative and inexpensive way to create a covering to protect our fledgling vegetable plants from freezing. Thank you, and God bless!
Comment by Shirley:
Elizabeth, I do plan to post pictures of our cold frames, but we’re at least six weeks away from being able to do anything in the garden, and right now the frames are just a pile of one-by-one supports and folded drop cloth pieces! I can’t even SEE the garden… it’s still covered with snow… but I definitely will have photos later.
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