GARDEN GUIDE POSTS 
A vegetable garden only 
25 x 50 feet will keep a 
hungry family of five in 
fresh vegetables all through 
the season — with plenty 
left over for canning. 

HOTBED OR COLD FRAME 
Normally, these do not pay if used 
only for growing seedlings, but 
the advanced gardener will find 
them useful for protecting plants 
in fall, for storing winter vege- 
tables or for growing lettuce and 
radishes until long after they are 
available in the open garden. 
These should be located on the south 
side of a hedge, fence or building 
to break the wind, and must have 
at least six hours of direct sunshine 
during the day. 
TYPES: Hotbeds can be heated 
with fresh manure, leaves, elec- 
tric cables, electric bulbs or 
through a basement window. 
Standard hotbed sash is three feet 
wide and six feet long, so if sash 
is purchased, make hotbed of these 
dimensions. Many gardeners use a 
storm window after the worst cold 
of winter is over. Frame should be 
sloped by making north side six to 
eight inches taller than south side 
to catch sunlight and to provide 
good drainage. 
Dig hole six inches larger on all 
sides than the frame on which sash 
rests, 

Pit should be 24” deep. Fill to top 
with fresh strawy horse manure and 
press down six inches. Set frame 
over manure and fill around out- 
side and inside to level of ground. 
Add three inches of sifted soil in- 
side frame. Heap leaves or straw 
around outside to conserve heat. 
If manure is not available, dried 
Jeaves or chopped straw may be 
used by adding a handful of am- 
monium nitrate or ammonium sul- 
fate to each bushel of leaves. This 
will not, however generate as high 
a heat as manure. 
As soon as frame is in place, water 
well, insert thermometer in soil and 
cover with sash, airing daily until 
thermometer drops below 85 de- 
grees, This is time to plant tomatoes 
and peppers. For cabbage, cauli- 
26 
flower, broccoli and kohlrabi, allow 
thermometer to go below 75 degrees. 
On sunny days ventilate thoroughly, 
but even on cloudy days a crack of 
air may be needed to get ria of am- 
monia odor. Cover glass at night 
with blankets, old rugs or hotbed 
mats to conserve heat. 

Basement Window Greenhouse 
The frame for a basement window 
greenhouse is made the same as for 
a manure hotbed, but the back is 
omitted and no pit is dug. The open 
back fits against the basement win- 
dow. The open window both ventil- 
ates and heats, so that in most in- 
stances no further ventilation will 
be needed. On very cold nights, a 
100 watt electric bulb will keep up 
heat. 
Electric hotbed cables are usually 
installed over a bed of sand six 
inches thick, and covered with 
1%” mesh hardware cloth. Electric 
lights (two 100 watt lamps for each 
3 x 6 sash) can be used and con- 
trolled by a chicken brooder the::mo- 
stat. 

Cold Frames 
A cold frame is the same as a hot- 
bed without manure or other 
source of artificial heat. It de- 
pends upon the sun for heat, and 
must be covered with hotbed mats 
to conserve this heat at night. 
It can be used only after the 
weather has warmed up somewhat, 
but before the danger from late 
frosts is past. Lettuce and rad- 
ishes planted in the cold frame a 
month before frost is expected can 
be grown until late in the year if 
the glass is kept covered at night. 


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