Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Not So Cold Frame
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I built a frame with treated 2x10s on the bottom and untreated 2x10s on top. Left over Rastra blocks (ICCF or Insulated Composite Concrete Forms) were then set in and covered with left over plastic from building our hydronic radiant slab. The plastic was punctured to allow standing water to pass through. The Rastra lifts the soil up and insulates the bottom..JPG)
Here is the topsoil in. Laying along side is a scap of Rasta. You can see from it's thickness that my soil is about 12" deep. Should be deep enough for anything I want to grow..JPG)
Another picture of the topsoil and a section of extra Rastra..JPG)
The "cold frame" was then enclosed with a double-walled insulating plastic used for green houses. The design was such that the sheets didn't have to be cut very much and there was no scrap left over from the 4 2'x8' sheets. The top is lifted by a temperature operated piston (click on the photo). It opens the top as the interior temperature reaches 70 degrees (as it has in this case). Even still, it can't blow off all of the heat and I have recorded temperatures as high as 94 inside. You can see from this picture one of my design ideas: A raised bed that's actually raised high enough so that I can garden while sitting in a chair. I forgot to add a cup holder..JPG)
The front just lifts open for access. I left the front open sometimes during the day as I wasn't sure that pollinators would get in through the solar lid to pollinate my cucumbers, tomatoes, etc., but it doesn't seem to be a problem and I now rarely bother..JPG)
Here, the garden is starting to take off. In the back is a scrap of heavy netting that serves as a support for cucumbers, peas, etc. I even trained a tomato along the back. You can click a few times on any picture to enlarge it. You can see two pots (black and white) suspended from the netting. Those are my seed starting pots. I can plant a couple of carrot seeds and, as I harvest the carrots from the soil, replace them with starts..JPG)
Here it is a little later in the season. Next to the cold frame is a composter. I later moved the composter because I had lots of pill bugs. They seemed to be able to nip off the new seedlings. Slugs are easy to keep out, but the pill bugs couldn't be kept out, so the composter was moved. It has helped some. I also don't show my latest improvement. The greenhouse now has two 300 watt waterbed heaters under the soil and on top of the Rastra insulation. The thermostats are set at 70 and the soil temperature is a fairly uniform 64 degrees (in March). I usually don't reach 64 degrees until August. Looks like I now have a year 'round garden. It's also starting to look like I can easily keep the soil too warm for spinach. That's a problem that I can deal with..JPG)
The greenhouse keeps these guys on the hill right behind it. My tiny greenhouse also appears to be chimpmunk proof. Direct seeding outside of the greenhouse seems to attract them and they are able to dig up most seeds and sprouts.# posted by gnome-honey @ 2:38 PM 
