Why You Should Have a Coldframe— By Philip Cox, 



New 

 Jersey 



EARLY FRESH VEGETABLES, FLOWERING PLANTS OF GREATER VIGOR AND SOMETHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY 

 ALL THE YEAR ROUND, INCLUDING VIOLETS FOR CHRISTMAS — ECONOMY OF UP-TO-DATE CONSTRUCTION 



SINCE I have contracted the coldframe 

 habit I have been able to keep my 

 garden enthusiasm warm all winter. I 

 am an enthusiast for coldframes, and only 

 wish that I may convey to others some feel- 

 ing of the satisfaction to be had from their 

 use. It is not everybody who can possess a 

 greenhouse, but surely no one having any 

 garden space at all can give justification for 

 not possessing some coldframes. 



The common notion that coldframes are 

 useful merely in the early days of spring for 

 starting hardy plants, so as to get them a 

 little bit earlier than the outdoor sowings, 

 and for giving protection to the tender plants 

 before the outdoor weather is safe, is very 

 far from the whole story. By proper 

 manipulation coldframes can be made very 

 adequate substitutes for a greenhouse, giv- 

 ing results all the winter through. If you 

 do not already possess one or more cold- 

 frames, I urge you to delay no longer, but to 

 install some this very month. Immediate 



The best kind of brace for the sash is an iron 

 rod; it casts very little shade 



results can be had in starting nearly all the 

 flowering annuals, and such more tender 

 plants as tomatoes; or lima beans can be 

 germinated here ready for planting out when 

 the ground is warmer. See The Garden 

 Magazine for March, 1906, page 82. 



For three years past I have been keeping 

 a careful record of what has been done with 

 two coldframes, five sash each, working them 

 all the year round and raising in them both 

 vegetables and flowers. I advise working 

 with two frames because it is much easier 

 to handle a rotation of crops. What I shall 

 tell about is what any amateur can do, pro- 

 ducing identical results; it is not necessary to 

 be a skilled, experienced gardener. 



THE ROUND OF THE YEAR 



Most people begin to think about cold- 

 frames at this season, but the real "year of 

 the coldframe" may be said to begin in 

 October when, with the coming of frost, 

 outdoor operations cease. But preparations 

 for the winter will have been under way well 

 in advance of that. By about the twentieth 

 of August, indeed, I make a sowing of black- 

 seeded Tennis Ball lettuce, following this 

 by another September 5th. The seed is 

 sown in a shallow box and transplanted to the 

 ground inside the coldframe when the second 

 pair of leaves has been well developed. If, 

 however, the frames are not ready at that 

 time, the seedings may be transplanted into 

 the open ground, removing them into the 



frames later, giving them then a distance of 

 nine inches each way. The plants from the 

 first sowing should be ready for use the first 

 week in November, those of the second 

 sowing following about three weeks later. 



Lettuce may be had in succession all 

 winter through by management of the sash. 

 Giving plenty of air on all bright days by 

 lifting one end of the sash, the crop of let- 

 tuce can be made to yield all through the 

 winter, even up to the present time (March), 

 when, of course, whatever is in the frame will 

 be cleared out to make room for the annuals 

 and vegetable plants already mentioned. 



A still further sowing of lettuce made 

 about October 1st v will not give very large 

 plants during the winter, but they will be 

 well established and strong for transplanting 

 in the earliest spring into hotbeds, or for 

 planting out in the garden. Those intended 

 for hotbeds maybe transplanted any time after 

 February 1st, giving heads for use in April. 



Among the early spring vegetables, spinach 

 is one of the most welcome and one of the 

 most easily grown with the assistance of the 

 coldframes, sowing the seed in January in 

 the place from which the first crop of let- 

 tuce has been removed. Norfolk Savoy 

 spinach I have found well adapted -lor 

 frame culture, and from seed sown January 

 5th is ready for use April 1st. Seeds are 

 sown in drills eight inches apart, the bed 

 being not over eight inches from the glass 

 at the lowest point, which also is the proper 

 arrangement for lettuce; so the one crop 

 follows the other without any alteration of 

 the seed-bed. 



The soil, of course, must have been thor- 

 oughly enriched with well-rotted manure 

 in the fall. If this has been done, the 

 spinach crop will yield up to the last days 

 of May, or within two weeks of the time 

 when the outside crop is ready for use. 



About the first of April is time to sow 

 melons. These should be in pots so that 



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A blind and shouldered mortise joint gives little 

 chance for water to enter and prevents rot 



80 



Combined coldframe, hotbed, and pit with ma- 

 sonry walls. Almost as good as a greenhouse 



they may be transplanted without disturb- 

 ance of the roots. Seeds had best be started 

 in 2-inch pots, shifting into 4-inch pots as 

 soon as the first are filled with roots. Some 

 of the plants thus started can be shifted 

 later into the open ground, but for the very 

 earliest results select the strongest growing 

 plants for continued growth under the sash, 

 planting two in a hill in the center of each 

 sash as soon as the spinach is cleared off. 

 Early melons are particularly appreciated, 

 and are not difficult to raise if you bear in 

 mind always that the plants are easily chilled. 

 Therefore keep the sash on the frames dur- 

 ing the day as well as night until the plants 

 are thoroughly well started in the bed. 



Emerald Gem is a reliable melon for frame 

 culture, and started on the first of April 

 should give fruits from July 10th and until the 

 outdoor crop is ready for use in August. 

 This rotation of crops is an easy and com- 

 plete one for the twelve months, occupying 

 the frames all the time. 



The only special attention needed is during 

 the winter when there are more than five de- 

 grees of frost. Then put some sort of cov- 

 ering or protection over the glass. Mats 

 of straw (the making of which was de- 

 scribed in the February, 1906, Garden 

 Magazine) or of burlap can be used, the 

 latter being the most lasting, and those made 

 6x6 ft., with waterproof duck on one side, 

 are the best. 



When the temperature falls very much be- 

 low freezing, place wooden shutters over the 

 mats, which will not only help to hold the 

 latter snugly in place, but keep the weight of 

 snow and ice from pressing too heavily upon 

 the frames. The shutters are also easily re- 

 moved. The sides of the frames should be 

 banked up all around with rough manure, 

 leaves, or salt hay, or any sort of convenient 

 mulch to help keep out the frost. That is 

 the essential point. For if once the frost 

 is allowed to enter the frame, everything else 

 is done in vain. 



SOME OTHER POSSIBILITIES 



But the possibilities of coldframes are by 

 no means summed up in the rotation just 



