Forsythkid's Blog » CF2

Growing fresh lettuce in the dead of winter! Am I crazy?

forsythkid — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 23:07:31 +0000

Yes, I am but that’s a story for another time. To check out this particular bit of craziness, please click here!

The graph at left represents the actual temperatures for the week ending December the 20th, 2009. Note that while it got pretty cold, I was still able to enjoy great tasting romaine lettuce even in the dead of winter here in southwest Missouri.

If you haven’t tried building and using a cold frame, then you are missing out. They can extend your growing season well in the the fall and then again in the very early spring.

For my article on factors that affect growth in a cold frame, please click here.

Cold Frames Now Paying Off

forsythkid — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 18:08:53 +0000

Thanks to the two small cold frames I built last fall and the fact that I nursed some small romaine and spinach plants along this late winter, I now have all I can eat! Well, that may be a bit of an exaggeration. I do have a good supply to help augment my occasional iceberg lettuce purchases at the local grocery. Today I harvested about 56 grams (2 ounces) of a combination of plant leaves this morning which will be more than enough for a couple of salads. In addition, my small romaine transplants (I think there are seven of these) are now in some empty spaces in both cold frames and are doing well. These guys will be ready to harvest by sometime next month. While I was out there this morning I also planted some radish seed here and there. Where ever I had a little space. They should germinate and be ready for harvest in about thirty days. So, one bottom line to having some cold frames around is that they offer a bit of a buffer. You get a supply of early green while the main beds are still lying fallow. I am hoping to begin planting out back sometime in the next week or so depending on the weather.

Forsyth Ice Storm Aftermath

forsythkid — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 17:38:36 +0000

What a wild ride that ice storm was! I cannot believe the luck we had here in Forsyth Missouri to come so close to disaster without actually stepping over the edge. Too bad it hit the Harrison Arkansas area with such a vengeance. I understand that a lot of folks have been without power for three days now. Other states like Tennessee have been even more adversely affected with over 600,000 without power at one point. Even so, the damage done to trees was bad enough. I would estimate that about 15% of all the trees in this area have lost one or more limbs. That adds up to lots and lots of piles of debris in front of most homes in my neighborhood.

My cold frames slept through most of this under a blanket of sleet that is over five inches deep in some spots. It’s Saturday today and most of this stuff should melt as the weather is supposed to warm into the mid fifties today and tomorrow.

Cold Frame Update – End of December

forsythkid — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 15:57:30 +0000

It’s almost the end of December, the 27^th actually and I finally got out to check on the health of my romaine, lettuce and radish plants. They reside in two small cold frames in my front yard and would no doubt be complaining about the cold if they were able. The mean temperature for this month has been two degrees lower than normal and that’s a lot!

I noticed some of the larger plants in cold frame #1 show evidence of tip burn. This was caused by their coming in contact with the glass on days that were below freezing. Otherwise, they are in good health. The plants in cold frame #2 are also good to go, just a little smaller due to them get planted after the ones on frame #1.

Two conclusions I’ve come to regarding this effort are; one, that even though plants will grow during the winter, they do so slowly (duh). And two, I need to consider a much larger cold frame if I am to have anything worth harvesting. Eleven square feet (the inside growing area of both frames together) is not enough to produce enough to feed one person. I will need at least sixteen square feet to accomplish this. So, that will be my next project this coming early spring. I am in the planning stage at this time.

Cold Frames Survive Deep Freeze

forsythkid — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 15:09:28 +0000

CF = Cold Frame

Over a three day period, Saturday through Monday (December 20-22 to be exact), my hometown area witnessed some of the coldest temperatures yet here in southwest Missouri. It’s been a good number of years since we’ve had to deal with single digit cold for two nights in a row. As you can imagine, I was a little concerned as to how well the inhabitants of my two small cold frames would fare in such an unfriendly environment. Both frames contain spinach, romaine and radish plants. One box has mature plants while the other has starts that are still pretty small. Since I began in September, I’ve found that growing vegetables in the wintertime does present some challenges. Keeping them warm has proven to be a chore for one thing. Most nights I’ve had to cover them in order to insure the internal temperature stays in a livable range. Another problem has been the lower light levels that are common this time of year. This, in addition to the cooler temperatures, have result in very slow growth. The good news (see chart above) is that even in very cold weather, I can maintain a livable climate for the plants with minimum effort. It should be noted that the heat sources I used inside both frames with light bulbs; a 75 watt in CF#1 and a 40 watt in CF#2. If it ever does warm up a little, I fully expect the growth to really take off.

Colder Temps Mean More Insulation!

forsythkid — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 19:07:48 +0000

Upon hearing that another arctic outbreak is due to hit southwest Missouri over the coming weekend, I decided to get some more Styrofoam attached the backsides of each unit. Back in November when I first built them I did get some styro applied to the insides of each, but neglected to do anything with the back ends that are exposed directly to the elements. Over the past month or so we have had some fairly cold weather that has dipped down into the teens on a few occasions. This forced me to cover and place 40 watt light bulbs in each. These measures were effective in keeping the internal temperatures in the low forties even when it was 18F outside. However, now the National Weather Service is talking about some serious cold stuff coming our way. They are talking close to zero degrees! I hate to think what cities to my north will see. KC and Chicago watch out!I think that the coldest days will be Saturday evening through Monday, December the 20th-22^nd.

As an added safeguard, I will increase the wattage to 75 in CF1 only. CF2 will continue to have a 40 watt heat source. I plan to monitor the internal temps and will publish them in an upcoming blog entry for anyone who might have an interest. Also, I will try and get some pictures posted in the next day or so.

Building a Cold Frame Part 1 of 3

forsythkid — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 19:31:50 +0000

Building a Cold Frame Part 2 of 3

forsythkid — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 19:30:21 +0000

Part 2 of building a cold frame.

more about “Building a Cold Frame Part 2 of 3“, posted with vodpod

Got er Done! Cold Frame #2 is in Place!

forsythkid — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 18:58:00 +0000

Today was Sunday and it was nicer out than I had thought it would get. We started this morning at 27F but finished with the low fifties. The painting of the frame went quickly (see Building a Cold Frame Part 2) as did the did of the hole it would go in. I think the hole deal was about an hour or so. I have also equipped this frame with an internal wireless temperature sensor that is very closely matched to the one on the other frame. right now they bot are in close agreement with CF1 reading 55.4F and the newer CF2 reading 53.1F. As it turned out I did not have to purchase any vermiculite as by mistake, I bought three bags of Scott’s Premium potting mix. This was a lot more money than I wanted to spend for this project, but since its done I went ahead and filled CF2 with 2 bags or 2 cubic feet of the stuff. I also have three trays of starter lettuce and spinach plants hardening off in the garage. I will plant these out into the new cold frame sometime early this coming week. The weather service is expecting temperatures to go on a roller coaster ride with cold fronts coming into our area every other day or so. I’m not too worried, however as early this morning when the temperature read a frigid 27F, the atmosphere in CF1 was a balmy 59F. I had covered it last night with two layers and made sure to leave the small 40 watt bulb on also.

CF#2 (Cold Frame) on the Way!

forsythkid — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 15:06:00 +0000

It’s now mid November 2008 and we are now entering the time of year I like the least. The next fourteen weeks will see some of the coldest weather of the year and most of the trees will be bare. Thank goodness for my cold frame with its spark of spring greenery inside. It will soon have a friend when I install a twin unit next to it. I’m in the process of painting the frame and still need to purchase a soil amendment (vermiculite)to add to the 3 cubic feet of Miracle Gro potting soil bought at a store last week. I now have three trays of plants (lettuce and spinach) that need to be planted out soon, so I need to get to it as they say. The new cold frame will be referred to as CF2 and the original CF1. CF1′s plants are going great. I’ll try and post a current picture sometime soon. The average temperature in that frame has been about 54F which is near the ideal temperature to grow lettuce and spinach at.

Over the next weeks they are forecasting a series of cold fronts about every other day with lows getting into the twenties. This will be a real test to see how well these guys can surviive.