My Coldframe Experiment

I've read about coldframes and decided this was the year to construct my own. I had some old skylights laying around, not sure where they even came from so building it should be pretty cheap. I built the base from 2x6's and 2x10's to make the total height about 22". I filled it with screened topsoil from a local nursery and mixed in a lot of mushroom soil from the same nursery. Below are some pics:

You can see the start of the coldframe laying on the ground. I used 2x3's as the corner posts and you can see the skylight in the background as well. If you enlarge the picture you will notice the frame of my greenhouse in the far back and my cousin/helper, taking a break.

Here is the completed coldframe. Notice I left some of the 2x3 sticking out the bottom for support when it is placed into the ground. The size of the skylight is 51" x 51", plenty of room for all my cold weather plants.

My coldframe in its final resting spot. You can notice the sod has been dug up for next years expansion of my garden.

The finished product! From left to right: Radish/Cherriette, Carrots/Napoli (barely visible), Spinach & looseleaf lettuce. Seeds from Johnny's and Seed Savers Exchange. I tried Johnny's pelleted carrot seeds and they were great to work with. I'll never use non-pelleted again.

So, my coldframe material list looked something like this:

1. 4 - 2 x 6 x 10 @ $4.15 ea
2. 2 - 2 x 10 x 10 @ $7.59 ea
3. 51" x 51" commercial skylight - FREE
4. Misc hardware (12D nails, 2 1/2" drywall screws) @ $4.00???

Total Bill: $35.78

Not too bad for a decent sized coldframe. And if it works I have one more skylight for next year.

Thanks for stopping by and as always feel free to email me with questions or advice.