In praise of cold-frames | growing year round | growing in winter | self-sufficiency
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- Опубліковано 9 лис 2020
- In this video I muse on some of the benefits of cold-frames that popped into my head while out cycling this morning. For more information, including instructions on how to make cold-frames and other structures, see this playlist:
• Raised beds, cold fram...
If you have questions, we have a FAQ document and video, which you can find here: steves.seasidelife.com/2020/0...
If you are new to my allotment videos you might find a bit of context useful. We live in the north west of England, in Lytham St Annes, which I believe is the equivalent of USA Zone 8. The garden is about ½ a mile from the sea, the allotment about a mile, it’s fairly mild, but very windy.
A lot of people ask about the databases and apps that I mention in the videos, I make these are freely available, for more check out these blog posts steves.seasidelife.com/catego...
We used to have three allotments in my family, mine (Steve), my wife's (Debbie) and my middle daughter's (Jennie) and you will see these featured in many videos. We’ve recently handed Jennie’s back to the council as over the years we now grow more on the other two plots than we did on all three a few years ago. We also have a small kitchen garden at home.
All of the plots are managed in an integrated fashion, so don't expect to see the usual mix of veg on each plot. I do most of the planning and seed starting. We each have our own plots, but we all help each other out.
Debbie's plot is mostly full of perennials, it's an ornamental plot. We did a lot of work to keep the weeds down and Debbie's approach is inspired by the TV programme The Ornamental Kitchen garden.
My plot is all about experimental growing, maximum productivity and year round abundance. As with all of the other plots I did a lot of work to control the weeds, but it's a high maintenance plot. I'm always planting, harvesting, experimenting and generally having a great time.
Collectively the plots deliver an amazing abundance of fruit and veg all year round. Debbie, Jennie, Jon and I are effectively self sufficient in veg all year round and in fruit for much of the year. During winter we sometimes have enough surplus to feed our local family. During the rest of the year when the surplus from our house garden comes on stream we have surpluses in some crops for quite a few friends as well.
This video provides an overview: • The big picture of our...
I do an update of the allotments, roughly twice a month, you can find the tours here:
• Full allotment tour as...
Our approach to allotment life is to: grow as much as we possibly can, to be self-sufficient in veg all year round and in fruit in season, to give away our surplus to friends and family, and to have as much fun as possible.
For more on self sufficiency check out these videos:
• Super quick update on ...
We are not slaves to gardening though, I spend about 12 hours a week on the plots (on average) Debbie and Jennie a lot less. We keep nudging that down as we eliminate non-productive work: like grass cutting, weeding and watering as much as practical. We are newbie gardeners, only starting the allotments in 2016.
I'm a bit obsessive about the nutrient density of the veg that we grow and making the plots easy to work because it's through this allotment lifestyle and food that I've overcome a debilitating auto-immune disease.
I'm always aware though that it might not last so I make sure that I don't work too hard, eat as much organic fruit and veg I can and design the plots so that I can still work them when I flare up.
Blessed be the coldframes and the polytunnels! :)
Yes indeed!
Hi Steve, we garden in NE Ohio zone 6, we put up a double 6 mil plastic covered raised bed this past autumn. I am amazed by it. I have a thermometer, barometer, hygrometer reader that I put inside and have been keeping records on, it can get hot in there on the sunny days, in the 70s! While it is in the 20s outside. We're learning about venting. We have a greenhouse waiting to be set up this spring and want a few more covered beds. I showed my hubs your channel and your cold frames, he liked them and said it gives him some good ideas :) I like how lush your veg looks in your poly tunnel, makes me excited for spring to get here!! Happy gardening, Angela
Thanks Angela, they do make a big difference, venting matters a lot for some crops, lettuce being a good example, not so much for others : All the best - Steve
Thanks for sharing Steve 👍.Robbo
Thanks Steve, my husband has made me some cold frames ready for growing crops. I'm going to take your lead this year and plant the peppers in taller cold frames too. My harvest was OK in the greenhouse but I was so impressed with your yours being grown in the tall frames.
Hi Jenny, just don't be tempted to plant them too early, try and wait until it's 10c/50f at night. The low tunnels don't keep them warm at night : All the best - Steve
Got my new coldframe onto my flat balcony yesterday,exciting stuff!
Lovely, it will make all the difference. I’m guessing it can get quite windy up on a balcony too
@@SteveRichards its been a real revelation. I can grow salad in december!
Hi Steve, Very well explained why you use your low tunnels, Take care and STAY SAFE.
Thanks 👍
Thanks for the advice Steve. Loving the emails … it’s really helpful to see what you have been planting, I used to get confused when you were scrolling on screen quite fast. Also thanks for letting us know where you get your seeds from! Really helpful! You inspire me every week! My goal is to build some cold frames like yours - however my building skills leave a lot to be desired! I’m often in Blackpool… family are from there & I’m a trainee sign language interpreter… are your allotments ever open to the public? Be great to visit one day! Also … great to see you on the TV a few weeks ago. I follow Jess at Plot 37 & I followed Green Side Up for years. RIP dude x 😢You’re fast becoming my go to for what to plant, and when! Diolch yn fawr iawn o Gymru- huge thanks from Wales!!
They are open, early August, I always post a video in advance and you will get advanced notice in the emails : All the best - Steve
If you get the wood cut for you I think anyone can manage to make a cold frame, the step by step instructions in my book will help, as will the video I post next week : All the best - Steve
Brilliant! Thanks 🙏
You are so right Steve, the weather is hard to manage and maybe it’s more noticeable for you being so close to the sea. I find here being almost 800ft above sea level and close to the sea the weather changes very quickly and seems to be more extreme than 5miles away down in the town. To save space I’m standardising all my beds to 3x3ft bays so I can make up some flat lids that I can stash behind the shed in summer. The micro climate will be great but for my area it’ll be about wind and rain protection.
Wind and rain protection is perfect for cold-frames, they don't do much for cold : All the best - Steve
Great info. I plan to have a large poly tunnel. The biggest i can afford. But will be using raised beds outside with hope houses tops as well following watching this video. I cant wait to get started when ive moved.
They complement each other so well : All the best - Steve
1st year of veg growing and I recently planted some spinach, lettuce and field beans. 1 lot in a cold frame/cloche and 1 lot in an uncovered bed next to it. Will be interesting to see any differences. Thanks for the tip on watering frequency for the cold frame. Cheers, Nick.
I'd be interested to know what happens with the field beans, I always plant mine outside, but I suspect the growth rate will be a lot higher in the frames, but that's not always the case with cold-weather plants : All the best - Steve
@@SteveRichards Yeah...I've watched most of your videos and I know it's not your or others' standard practice but being my first year I've got some spare space and in the spirit of experimentation I thought 'Why not?' I'll report back on the results.
Very cool and thank you. Do you find you get more slugs or snails in the cold frames? Yes, October was a vile weather month here too!
I think I get less slugs and snails, because everything is dry for most of the time. We do find a few slugs on the lettuces, but because we harvest every week we see them easily before they do any damage and remove them : All the best - Steve
Thank you - that is brilliant! I rescued my dad's old one and it went on for another 8 years, although disintegrated before we moved here, so with the gales and windy weather (yayyy - not) I'd like to have a bash again to protect a few things like beans to help them get going. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. 😊
Winter winds mostly kill everything outside in Winter here in Cumbria, very exposed site! But hopefully my new no dig raised beds with their added protection (yet to be done) will get me over that hurdle. Thankfully I have the polytunnels to grow year round in...lifesaver for me at the moment...Steve...😃
Your tunnels are really wonderful Steve, we're same here with the wind, probably not as cold as it is a bit further north though. Btw I'm interested to see how a summer lettuce - Amaze - does for you, it's one of my favourites, but I've had zero success with it over winter, it doesn't die, but the yield and quality are low for me, if you find a way to pull it off though that would be great : All the best - Steve
@@SteveRichards I'm banking on two factors with the Amaze, one is mild temps upto and beyond Christmas (last two years here have been mild into Jan) and indoor growing in both of my two tunnels. Picking leaves from the base helps too and encourages fresh growth. Even if I only get 4 weeks of picking instead of 9 or 10...I'll take that !...Steve...😃
It's a really good lettuce if you can get it to heart up
@@SteveRichards I have not let a lettuce heart up for years, get far more from it picking it regularly. ..Steve...🙂
I love lettuce heart, it's one of my favourites, so although perhaps 70% is picked loose we get through a large number of small hearted lettuce, especially little gem and amaze. I also pick whole lettuce heads in mid winter, plants are growing so slowly then that picking leaf by leaf is far too slow for me, so I just clear whole beds in the tunnel and frames to make way for spring crops : All the best - Steve
Nightmare with the water for the farmers, Steve. A very good reason for either raised or no dig beds
No dig doesn’t really help, two of the flooded plots are no dig
@@SteveRichards They are doing it wrong then. All of my beds are 4-6" above ground level. Most others are swamped out - I am not.
Raised beds definitely help, no dig not so much
@@SteveRichards Ah, depends how you "no dig".
It does indeed Steve, if you no-dig by not digging you don't get much benefit, if you no-dig by enriching your beds with a thick mulch of compost, that creates a raised bed then it drains better, of course it you make a raised bed by digging then that works fine too. Lots of guys on our site deep dig their plots and create large raised beds each year and get excellent results : All the best - Steve
Would Northern Ireland be too cold in the winter to try and get a cold frame and grow stuff in winter? 🤔
not at all, it would be fine, if you grow the right crops : All the best - Steve
More house building and less cleaning of ditches
The standing water sure messes it up
Absolutely, I notice a huge difference between the produce on my plot and theirs : All the best - Steve