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An ideal way to increase the yield of your garden is by extending your growing season.
If your normal growing season is six months, a three-month extension could provide up to a 50 percent increase.
Cold frames, sun boxes or hot beds are relatively inexpensive, simple structures that you can build or purchase which provide a favorable environment for growing cool-weather crops in the very early spring, the fall and even into the winter months.
Cold frames and sun boxes have no outside energy requirements and rely on the sun for their surce of heat, whereas hot beds are often heated by soil heating cables, steam carrying pipes or fresh, strawy manure buried beneath the rooting zones of the plants.
Heat is collected by these frames when the sun’s rays penetrate through the sash (made of clear plastic or glass). In late spring and summer, excess heat can be reduced by providing some type of shade to the sash.
To maximize collection of the sun’s rays, the ideal location for the cold frame is a south or southeastern exposure with a slight slope to insure good drainage. A sheltered spot with a wall or hedge to the north will provide protection against winter winds.
Ideas which will simplify use of the frame include a walkway to the front of the frame, adequate space behind the frame to remove the sash and easy access to plant, weed, water and harvest.
In early spring a cold frame is useful for hardening off seedlings which were started indoors or in a greenhouse. This hardening off period is important as seedlings can suffer serious setbacks if moved directly from the warmth and protection of the house to the garden.
Young seedlings need a transition period for gradual adjustment to the outdoor climate.
It is also possible to start an extra early cool-weather crop such as lettuce, onions or spinach and grow it to maturity in the frame for early spring harvest.
Spring and summer uses of the cold frame center around plant propagation. Young seedlings of hardy and half-hardy annuals can be started in a frame many weeks before they can be started in the open.
The soil in a portion of the hot bed can be replaced with sand or peat moss or other media suitable for rooting cuttings and for starting sweet potato slips.
Some innovative gardeners build
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