This week we harvested Buttercrunch, Black Seeded Simpson, and Prizehead lettuce from a cold frame. After culling and washing we got 1 pound 8 ounces. That will give us dinner salads all week long! We're cheating our 6b zone by lighting the frame from a couple of hours in the early morning and placing heavy black rubber mats over the glass at night.
Stop by
Daphne's Dandelions to see what other gardeners are harvesting around the world.
 |
| This is a pic of the frame earlier this year. The light is a 4 foot fluorescent and if you look closely you can see a flap of the rubber mat that covers it at night. | | | |
|
|
Clever, clever :)
ReplyDeleteAnd they'll taste even better than your summer harvest, I bet ;)
They taste amazing! I think the lettuce really appreciates the light and cooler temps combination.
DeleteThat looks like a great set up. I think I'm too lazy to go through all that work. I do some protecting for the winter harvest, but not a lot. Now if I had a greenhouse. . . Ah the dreams.
ReplyDeleteThanks Daphne. Ah the dreams... yes we're with you!
Deletethat is a lot of greens for a winter harvest. good job
ReplyDeleteThanks Mrs. Pickles. We're definitely enjoying them.
DeleteThe whole act of using a cold frame is technically cheating natures pace so why nitpick if you opt to go further than that with a light bulb. ;)
ReplyDeleteThere's no nitpicking going on around here. In the big picture (energy use vs. production), we say as long as it's more productive than destructive, we're all for it!
DeleteSMART! And what a great harvest~
ReplyDeleteThanks! Yours was even better.
DeleteHow fantastic. I love seeing all of your winter harvests, they are very inspiring!
ReplyDeleteWe're constantly being inspired by garden bloggers too. There's a lot of hard work and rewards going on all over the place. We look forward to yours too!
DeleteI've been known to throw blankets over my cold frames at night. Your light and mats sound like a great idea!
ReplyDeleteIt makes perfect sense that you would do that. Once the veggies are in the ground, don't we become very protective?
DeleteWhat a clever idea. Nice winter harvest.
ReplyDeleteThanks Norma, coming from you, that means a lot.
DeleteWhat a great idea, cheating mother nature; I'm sure the small amount of electricity you are using is more than offset by the fossil fuels you save not buying that lettuce at the store! Have you thought of doing a walk in hoop house with the coldframes inside it, ala Elliot Coleman?
ReplyDeleteI've been reading Coleman's book about winter gardening. It's very inspiring. I'd not thought of a hoop house over cold frames. It's a great idea!
ReplyDeleteWell done in pushing the season so well on the front end! Those plants look very happy in their snug cold frame.
ReplyDeleteThanks kitsap. They taste great.
ReplyDeleteWow amazing looking at your greens amidst the snow! Congratulation on your first attempt at growing fresh food in cold frame.
ReplyDeleteThanks MKgirl! We're very happy about them.
ReplyDeleteGreat harvest Jody! I took the tops off of our cold frames two days ago and removed the lights. I've got too many bugs in there...it's just crazy! Hopefully the exposure will kill some of them.
ReplyDeleteThanks Robin, we have fruit flies, but not much more than that. I think it's because the frames are new. The bugs haven't found us yet! I hope you can get rid of the bugs in your fra
ReplyDelete... in your frame. It's so warm they might just think they're getting a little fresh air!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful! I've yet to be able to grow lettuce this time of year that's not either tough, frost bitten or bitter. I'll have to type just growing them in a cold frame. It looks like you, Robin and Villager have a lot success with this method.
ReplyDeleteThanks Thomas, this is our first year using cold frames. I find them to be amazing! The warm weather winter has certainly helped!
Delete