For the past five or six years I have been extending the growing season of several leafy vegetables. When I first started doing this the plan was to keep the kale (which actually likes lite frosts) for as long as I could in the fall. What I found was that several vegetables will not only survive the winter but will thrive in a simple cold-frame! Considering the number of days of below zero weather and the snow this past winter I was amazed when I realized that my three favorites (kale, spinach, and arugula) were still healthy this spring. Looking at the images below (all taken in early March), you can see why I consider cold frames an essential part of my garden. Not only do the hardy vegetable thrive, there are nearly NO bugs in the cold weather!
The cold frame shown here contains "Olympia" spinach, my favorite. I find that it will not only do well from a September- October sowing, but will yield large tender leaves well into late spring/early summer. It tends not to bolt and has done well all three years I have grown it.
Two 3"x 3"x 8' landscaping timbers are place on the ground about 18" apart. Notice the 1/8" steel "clothesline" wire that I use to keep the clear corrugated covers from collapsing under the snow. A Styrofoam sheet at each end keeps the cold out. Two or three eye hooks are screwed into the landscaping timber and a length of wire attached to opposing eye hooks reduce the chance of wind blowing the cover off.
Above are four of this years cold frames (I had six total). While they will not supply all the leaf veggies I want for the winter, they are a wonderful addition on those days when it is warm and dry enough to harvest them.
This is what the cold frames looked like in January!
Or, if you have 3D (red/green) glasses you can check out
this picture.
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