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Monday, 10 March 2008
A cold frame can be built from odds and ends and need cost you nothing. If you don’t have the luck to come across an old window you might have to lash out on a sheet of perspex, but by and large improvisation will get you through.

...You’ll find the tool- and potting-sheds which are the heart of all,
The cold-frames and the hot-houses, the dungpits and the tanks,
The Glory of the Garden, Rudyard Kipling

Start off by collecting horse or donkey manure (see the Weevil’s tip on grass-fed animals). You can make it as a pit, or build it up with stone or breeze blocks. Don’t give it wood or straw sides because they will harbour woodlice. Build it up so that the top level reaches a comfortable working height.

The bottom layer is for drainage. Anything will do: stones or old bits of breeze block are good. Then put in your first layer of manure – at least a foot – padded out if need be with garden compost or straw. Then a reasonable 6-inch layer of weed-free garden soil. Water it well to get it going. The top layer is the seed compost. This is where you might have to buy in unless you’ve prepared well in advance.
Fit the top with hinges if possible or at least some provision for propping it open. Make sure it won’t let in persistent drips where the seedlings will be.
Flatten the top soil really firmly and get the surface level. Find a plank, if you can, that fits within the frame and you can use this for the flattening and levelling and later use the edge of it for pressing the seed runnels.
Leave the cold-frame closed to heat up: this can take up to ten days. Then wait until the heat has died down before you start to use it. Water the furrows before seeding.
Let it do its magic with your aubergines, peppers, tomatoes, basil: things which need to be hot-started. Use it for your purslane, mesambryanthemums, early courgettes, cucumbers, melons and sweet corn in peat pots.
In return, keep an eye on it morning and evening. Keep the lid shut if it looks like it will be a frosty night. Prop it open a little to air, and later in the milder weather open it right up. As the soil dries, fine-sprinkle water on it.
 
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