How to Make Cold Frames in Your Garden

I’m always looking for ways to extend my gardening season. Every year I try to plant a fall of vegetable garden to take advantage of those last few warm days. But even at the mildest climate, temperatures can drop suddenly. It caused big problems in the garden. So I’m always looking for solutions. I came up with a simple design for cold frame. It sits right on top of the raised beds by my vegetable garden. If you don’t have raised beds, I found this concept helpful for bringing plants to the winter by setting it on top of bales of straw. The idea here is really simple. It’s just taking energy from the sun and warming the soil in air temperatures. This makes the plants very happy. There’s really nothing to it, some 2 x 4s, plastic and some concrete reinforcing wire.

The first step in putting this together is to build a 2 x 4 frame. And to save time, I had the boards pre-cut at the lumber yard. This concrete reinforcing wire is strong stuff. It’s the key to the support. That can be purchased in standardized rolls and cut to fit your cold frame. Now, I always try to cut enough to create an arc that’s at least 24 inches high at the highest point. This gives me plenty of room for ventilation and enough room for me to work. I attached the wire with large staples. And then secure this 4-mill plastic sheeting with smaller staples and I use a nylon fabric strip to keep from tearing. Ventilation’s important and you can get this by leaving the ends open or cutting slits on the top. Cold frames are a great way to protect plants and extend the gardening season. From the garden, I’m Allen Smith.

For more on this topic and other information, please check out my website PAllenSmith.com.


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