Help/Advice on cold framing

[modern_pioneer]

So remember the window I took out of my living room? I wanna make a cold frame, being I am in zone 5a what are some of the things you would grow?

Would you build a raised frame to place the window on? Would you put it at a slant? Whats the best location? If building a frame to place the window on, how tall should it be?

Also would you paint pop/soda cans black on the inside to add heat? Or maybe add some bottles filled with water?

 

[patandchickens]

It depends what you want the coldframe for. If you just want it for hardening off plants started indoors, it doesn't need to be much of anything, just however's easiest to knock something together tall enough to enclose your tallest starts.

If you want to start seeds in it, or grow early-season greens, you want to make it a bit bigger and steeper (45 degrees is good for most of the northern part of the US, for this purpose) and big enough to incorporate a bunch of thermal mass like water bottles -- but remember it will also be more WORK, because you will have to spend more time opening and closing and covering and uncovering and so forth. Even with water bottles in it, a cold frame can overheat REAL fast on a sunny day if it's closed. (Getting one of those auto openers makes life a lot easier but they are not cheap)

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[TanksHill]

 

[modern_pioneer]

Thanks Pat, I am thinking cabbage

 

[hwillm1977]

Any cold tolerant plant would grow in a cold frame... broccoli, cabbage, radish, chard, spinach, carrots etc...

Ours don't have a huge pitch to them... they are about 18 inches high at the top, 6 at the lower end... (that drop is over 5 feet).

 

[SKR8PN]

We experimented with a small cold frame last winter. It was just laid flat, in a dug out, framed up area of one of our raised beds. I dug down 8 inches and set up a small frame to fasten the window to. I also berm-ed up the dirt on the outside of the frame for insulation. We had lettuce and spinach all winter long. We are in North Central Ohio, zone 5 I believe.

 

[sheaviance1]

Man, do I feel cheap. I used four bales of straw squared off and just laid my window on top. There was a small gap in the middle of each bale, so I only opened the window about 3 inches (mine was a storm window) when it was really warm. It worked very well though, had broccoli, cauliflower and brussel sprout seedlings in it for a long time, then used it to harden off tomatoes. The bales of straw were so dense that they insulated it very well. At night, I took some pesky plastic bags and stuffed in the gaps, but took them out in the mornings (when I remembered to). One extra benefit, I used the straw on my garden as mulch, and the part of the bales that were "inside" the cold frame had already sprouted and died back by the time I planted and spread the mulch on my garden, so I had a few less weeds that had to be pulled later.

 

[Wifezilla]

I have 2 liter water bottles on the outside edge of a garden bed that is covered in plastic. I am growing cilantro, spinach and chinese cabbage. Those 2 liter bottles do help regulate the temperature. I have 2 large old french door panels and I was just thinking about getting a few hay bales. I was scoping out garden beds to see where the best sun exposure would be last night