Yeah! I have lettuce, spinach, radishes and some herbs sprouting in the cold frames! Should have some fresh lettuce to eat in April. I planted the seeds about two weeks ago when we had a warm spell and even with the temps back down below freezing at night they are toasty warm in their little greenhouse.
One of the easiest ways to live more sustainably is to grow some of your food and we have been busy adding gardens each year. The trouble with gardening in Ontario is the short growing season - frost dates for the area we live in are May7 - Oct 7 and last year we had a late frost the first week of June. An easy way of extending the season is with cold frames and so I had Jerry (hubby) build me some last year on the south side of the house by the garage. He used lumber that was kicking around, we picked up window glass at the re-use center for $5 each and with a "pattern" from the
Four-Season Harvest book he produced three 4'x4' cold frames for me. It is important that they be facing south, that they be sloped back to front to the south and be covered with glass.
Last year we had fresh lettuce and herbs well into December and my cilantro and parsley overwintered in the cold frame and is starting to green up again, as is the corn salad (that big patch of green in the center cold frame). When the weather warms up I will move most of the herbs out to the herb garden and when this crop of lettuce is finished I plan to put some of my pepper plants and tomato plants in the cold frames for the summer. Last summer our pepper plants did not produce at all because it was so cool and wet. This year they get the hottest spot in the yard!
One of the easiest ways to live more sustainably is to grow some of your food and we have been busy adding gardens each year. The trouble with gardening in Ontario is the short growing season - frost dates for the area we live in are May7 - Oct 7 and last year we had a late frost the first week of June. An easy way of extending the season is with cold frames and so I had Jerry (hubby) build me some last year on the south side of the house by the garage. He used lumber that was kicking around, we picked up window glass at the re-use center for $5 each and with a "pattern" from the Four-Season Harvest book he produced three 4'x4' cold frames for me. It is important that they be facing south, that they be sloped back to front to the south and be covered with glass.
Last year we had fresh lettuce and herbs well into December and my cilantro and parsley overwintered in the cold frame and is starting to green up again, as is the corn salad (that big patch of green in the center cold frame). When the weather warms up I will move most of the herbs out to the herb garden and when this crop of lettuce is finished I plan to put some of my pepper plants and tomato plants in the cold frames for the summer. Last summer our pepper plants did not produce at all because it was so cool and wet. This year they get the hottest spot in the yard! 
Fantastic blog!! I really enjoy your write-ups.
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T xx
I grew some lettuce on our balcony last year, but found I was eating it faster than it could grow. This year, I think I will try growing more herbs and tomatoes. Great post!
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