Northeast Gardening: What have you ordered for Spring 2009?, 0 by WNYwillieB

WNYwillieB wrote:
:-( Unfortunately, not everything I want to grow can be Winter Sown outdoors, Karen.

The GH is only 32' x 10', and already packed full with tropicals at ground level, so this year, I am jury-rigging shelves on the second floor of the house where the rooms open to the GH below. There are 10' x 4' openings to the GH in both the upstairs rooms where I can easily install temporary, makeshift shelves.

An alternative to having a GH is to build a very cheap cold frame out of scrap lumber and poly, or enlist one of the handy (trustworthy) kids of the neighborhood to so do. These can be temporary and set up to extend the climate equivalent to about one zone south for one layer of common, thick poly. Even better with two layers of poly an inch or more apart, that is how my CF is, er, was. I am sure one can be constructed for far less than one month's rent at a GH.

The photo shows my cold frame (early this summer, already empty for the season), which, during a "Tornado Watch 'Party,'" some friends and I made a bit more permanent with scrap plywood, vinyl siding and old windows left over from the GH addition. It used to be only poly, but we were bored, and the power was out .... The poly layers for the roof are about 3" apart. I think the CF is only 3 or 4 foot wide by about 9 or 10 foot long and just tall enough to stand in under the roof's peak (6'5").

I found that I don't need too much room to actually start the seedlings, but when they need to be transplanted, THEN the space crunch is very evident and the CF becomes invaluable because by that time, it is warm enough to utilize. We enter the CF through a small "port" cut into the back of the garage. There are two U-Shaped levels of shelves. One at the sill level of the window, the other at the top of the window where it meets the roof. There is also enough light to keep the shadies happy on the floor, which is simply crushed gravel.

I want to do my "Compost Ring Garden" of veggies this year (if I ever stumble across the directions again), so I will also need to start those, too, somewhere, somehow .....

Want to start yours over here, Karen? :-)