Hooray!

I am beside myself with joy! The seedlings in my cold frame and row tunnel survived the snow and deep freeze!!!!! The peas seedlings are a little battered looking, but alive! Now, I will have the vent the tunnel and frame on Sunday, when it is predicted to get up to 77 degrees! What a winter!

Cold Frame Update! March 2, 2009

OK, so I recently wrote how delighted I was to have finally figured out Virginia cool season planting and that I had seedlings coming up under my cold frame and the row tunnel. Well, nature didn't appreciate my confidence. Above is the cold frame ...
and below is the row tunnel....

...really. Can't you make out the little snow bumps that are the tunnel? I have no idea what is going on under the snow as I dare not disturb it. Tonight's low is going to be in the teens, tomorrow's high in the 20's and snow actually acts as an insulator. And if Eliott Coleman can grow greens in Maine in January, then I can do it in VA!

Happy brrrrrr gardening!

Cold Frame Update!

[Photo caption: Pea Seedlings under the row tunnel! Over a month early!)

Row Tunnel, Cold Frame Update.
Feb. 25- I have my earliest pea, lettuce, and spinach seedlings ever, coming right up out of the ground in my new cold frame and row tunnel cover! Despite some significant neglect and nighttime temps down in the teens, the seeds have sprouted. Maybe it’s only taken me 10 years living in VA to figure out how to really do cold season crops here!

New Adventures of My Cold Frame!

First installment of the new adventures of my cold frame!

Thank goodness for my sister in law and all the sisters in law of the world like her! On a recent visit she, with the help of my dear brother, initiated the assembly of the new cold frame I ordered, surrounded by their four children helpers…and got it done in one morning (despite some of the helpers!)! My husband and I are severely assembly impaired and we avoid these tasks as much as possible (along with other home maintenance tasks- I think that the storm door that is oxidizing away will have to fall off and block the doorway before we replace it) (Dave Barry once wrote about his home maintenance skills “If I were a bird, my nest would consist of a single twig scotch-taped to a tree.” I hear you Dave!)

For those of you who don’t know, cold frames are a way of extending the season, either by keeping some veggies growing later in the season than they normally would or starting the spring season earlier, growing mostly cool-season plants, like lettuces, greens, cabbages, even peas can be started this way. I have wanted one for a while, tried the old window approach (build old windows into some sort of slap dash frame) and finally ordered this double-walled polycarbonate cold frame.

Anyway, my cold frame is assembled (need to order the automatic opener so I don’t cook my lettuces), is in the garden and is pictured above, along with the assembly team! Look forward to the end of season report, sometime in April! I am soooo excited!

Happy gardening!