Cold Frame Part II

I realize it has been a long time since I have written anything, but time kinda got away from me. So what better time to pick it back up again than when I have constructed cold frame v2 (or is it cold frame 1.2). It is similar to my first cold frame, only with some slight improvements. But let's start from the beginning. First I purchased cedar 2x2's and cut them to length. I butt them together for a simple joint.


On the last cold frame I bought metal brackets for corner supports. This time I decided to save some money and cut the leftover 2x2's into corner braces.


This is what it looks like with all the braces in place. The lids were much easier to put together with store bought 2x2's rather than twisted scrap pieces off my wood pile.


Then I clamped my pieces of plexi-glass to the lid frame and drilled holes in it. I used a drill just slightly larger than the sheet metal screws I planned on using. A word of caution, when drilling through plexi-glass drill gingerly. It can crack easily.



Once I had all the holes drilled, I screwed in the sheet metal screws with a nut driver.


Next I cut the side pieces to length and cut them at an angle from 12" down to 8". I don't have a picture of that, but here is how I attached them to the back 2x12 and I did the same with the front 2x8.


This is the whole frame put together. After I got it put together, I had a thought. The the joints where the angled pieces meet the front and back pieces don't allow the lids to lay exactly flat (a problem I had with the first cold frame). So it dawned on me that I could just flip it over. That worked really well and the lids now lay completely flat on the frame. I don't know if I explained that very well, but it will make sense if you ever build one.


The other improvement I made was to use heavy duty hinges on the back. I also wanted hinges that would allow the lids to be removed in the summertime. The perfect solution was recycled door hinges. I didn't pay anything for them and they are really sturdy. As you can see from the picture they are a little to big to fit all three screws in on the top side, but 5 out of 6 screws in the hinge is plenty to hold it all together.


On the next version I plan to try to recycle some old window sashes instead of using plexi-glass. The plexi was also free, but I think that window sashes or storm windows will last longer than plastic that isn't UV resistant.

I'm a Tree Herder

I had a thought the other day. Why am I trying to keep 10 tiny trees alive from ten miles away? Wouldn't it be easier to pot them and bring them into town? "Absolutely!" said Frank Gomez of hybridpoplars.com. Ok, so I'm a little slow with my epiphanies.

So, I loaded up my tools and some containers into the trusty rusty pickup and began herding the rogue poplings into town. 10 out of 300 lived, not a great outcome. One might think that I would be upset. At first I was, but I am choosing now to chalk it up to experience or lack there of. I will be wiser next year, and by the by, Frank has graciously agreed to replace the ones I lost next year and he has given me tip after tip along the way. If you want to look at it with a positive spin, I now have the strongest 3 percent of the trees for propagation purposes!

So, until next year this is where the little buggers will live (well, they have a winter home in the garage).

Sláinte Slugs!

While my wife was picking lettuce this afternoon in the garden, she found a few slugs. We have had a very wet year, in fact we have surpassed our yearly average already. So, I decided to toast the little buggers and give 'em a drink. I have read about beer traps, but never needed to use one. So, I buried a dish up to an inch from the top and put some Keystone in it. We'll see if I catch any.


After finishing the rest of the 'stone, I had to take a picture of the beans. They have completely outgrown their allotted space. If you look closely you can see a few ticked off pepper plants getting caught up in the mix.


I reached a personal record in my compost pile, 150 degrees. Yes, I have a compost thermometer (pause for snickering). The science of compost fascinates me to no end. I have been experimenting with composting coffee grounds obtained from a local coffee shop. I have been mixing them in with a little wood ash (to counteract any extra acidity) and then buried with last fall's leaves (and of course kitchen and garden scraps).


We are saving peas as next year's seeds for the first time. These are snap peas. I ended up saving way more than will fit in my garden, but they won't go to waste.


This tiny little guy is an alpine strawberry, we started them indoors this winter for funs and we finally got to eat one. Although they don't get much bigger than this, I picked it a bit too early and it didn't taste that great. I picked it in my zeal to win the harvest over the birds. I won, they lost, it was very tart.

Random Updates

I haven't had much time to blog lately so I thought I would lump a few brief entries into one ball o' randomness. This first picture is a pretty decent sized harvest of snap peas and broccoli. We ate some and froze the rest. The broccoli was two years in the making since the rabbits ate it before we could last year.

This is one of the poplars. It is doing well, most are not. The weather this spring was not great for these guys. The guy I bought them from said the heavy rains we received likely caused them to rot before they grew. Even though they could be considered a failure this year, I am still optimistic for next year. You can click the tag at the bottom for the rest of the story.

We were so excited about the broccoli that I decided to grow a second round of it as a fall crop. The seeds were planted in peat pellets that we received as a gift one year. They work just fine, but I still like soil blocks much better for moisture retention and size.

This is one lonely maple that lived from the maple experiment. It is the only tree standing from the 15 seeds planted. About 4 seeds germinated, but only this one is still going. One out of fifteen doesn't sound very good, but for free seeds I gathered in the neighborhood I think it is encouraging. I will try again next year with a lot more seeds. I also plan to harvest some acorns to plant this fall.


That's what's going on in brevity at our household. Hopefully I can keep up and dedicate enough time to certain topics in future entries.

Hello Neighbor

I went out to our acreage for a status update (I'll talk about that in a bit). Upon leaving I was walking down what will someday be our driveway, when I decided to say hello to the neighbors.


I don't know their names but they sure like attention. But that's not the story. While I was having a chat with my equine friends, I heard a rustle in the grass. I didn't think much of it. Then I saw something moving through the grass. I got a visual on it. It was a snake about 18 inches long. At first glimpse I thought it was a juvenile bull snake. But then I thought to myself, that is a bit too stout for a bull snake and the head is a bit too wide. So then I begin to worry it is a rattle snake. Bull snakes are common in this area, rattle snakes are not as common but not unheard of. So, I backed away to try to snap some pictures. It didn't work so well, but I did get one that would allow me to identify it. Actually, my Dad identified it. My Dad taught biology for many years and has far more knowledge on the subject than myself. Anyway this guy


is a western hognose snake. Not dangerous to humans. Being an amateur science geek, I thought the whole experience was pretty exciting. I hope to see more of the little buggers. I love the country! Here is a better picture from google images.


On a different note. I now believe that the poplars are doing better than I thought. Our spring was just too cold for them to sprout. I counted 46 of them showing green. 46 out of 300 hundred doesn't sound good, but it tells me that I gave up on some of the buds too early. I think I may meet my benchmark of 75%.

I haven't done a garden update lately, I don't have pictures nor the time right now but hopefully this weekend I will. I can tell you though, that we are now eating broccoli, leafy greens and snap peas.

OP-367 Update

I'm starting to smell the stench of failure. Don't get me wrong, some of the poplars look like this.


Most of them do not. I was looking for about 75% of the cuttings to survive in order to call it a success. Granted I have never done this before so I could be wrong, but it is looking to me like I am going to get about a third of them to live. Not a success in my book. Tomorrow I'm going to email the guy that I bought them from, and see how many of the cuttings he will replace and how I can do better. So far his customer service has been excellent. I think it is important to share failures as well as successes. Along those same lines, here are a couple of things I would have done differently.

1. Weather - Ok, so I can't control the weather but I can tell you we are having an unusually cold spring complete with the occasional frost.

2. Longer Cuttings - Since we have sandy soil on our land, I think longer cuttings would have been in contact with more moisture. Also, our soil seems to "float" the cuttings to the surface when it rains. Longer cuttings would probably anchor down a little better.

Only time will tell how many poplars are really going to live. The good news is, I can take my own cuttings in the future if I do ever get them to grow.

The Maple Experiment

While walking through the neighborhood, I noticed how many "trees" go unplanted each year or become "weeds" only to be plucked out of flower beds. Stay tuned for the results. And ... yes that is the color of the floor in our laundry room.

In other news, I made a little hoop house to keep the bugs from eating the broccoli before we do. It is made from 9 gauge fencing wire and floating row cover. I hope it works. Never mind the extremely tall grass just outside the garden. I better go do some trimming.