I had to rebuild the top and one side of my coldframe as I left it open one day and the wind wrecked it. The new lid has turned out great and is much lighter than the previous lid. On the first lid I used 1/4 inch plexiglass for the clear top which made it really heavy to lift. So I went to Home Depot and got some lightweight clear corrugated polycarbonate panels that were more expensive than plain clear corrugated plastic panels. I hope they won’t get cloudy or streaked and they say they are almost unbreakable. We’ll see in our wind! I won’t leave it wide open again, that’s for sure!
Tag Archives: coldframe gardening
Wind broke my coldframe
Plexiglass broken/bubble wrap insulation shredded
Dang it! I left the lid to the coldframe up the other day and the wind came up while I was gone and broke the lid. I mean it must of really come up cause it broke one of the 1/4″ plexiglass panels in it. Plexi isn’t so easy to break.
Rabbits don't need to sneak in with an 8 inch gap!
Anyways it also torqued the frame as well because now there is an eight inch gap in the corner where the wood frame was forced apart. Great, now the rabbits can walk in. I have to rebuild the lid and somehow pull the wood together on the frame with the dirt inside and re-screw it back together. Way more work than I have time for. And the arugula is coming up inside. Bummer…
Whole left side of coldframe broke-ARRRGH!
On the good side, look at my view from the house in the bottom photo!
Winter Spinach!
Winter Spinach-Feb 1, 2011
Just before we dipped down into -10 to -15°F for nightime lows during the first week of February here in Santa Fe, I picked all the spinach that had been growing up till then. I figured the winter garden greens growing in my coldframe (that is only protected by some bubble wrap on the lid-nothing protecting the 2 x 10 wood on the sides) would be toast but unbelieveably it survived! Not only survived but thrived! Now the chard is starting to really grow! I continue to be astonished by it all. I got 4 salads from the spinach and it was the best I ever had-I’m not just saying that either. I’ve never seen such deep green coloring for ANY spinach and it was so tender. Delicious! I only picked the bigger leaves so I’ll see if it regrows again. I’m starting to become a believer in this winter garden thing. Things grow a little slower in winter but hey, I’m a little slower in winter too.
OMG-what will it do in Spring?!
giantveggiegardener 