Coldframe

I started all of my cold-tolerant edible seeds several weeks ago: lettuce, tatsoi, cilantro (coriander). Those seedlings have been eager to get into the ground, and they're ready. The problem is the weather. Although we've had a few warm days here and there recently, temperatures in March are quite a bit below normal. The forecast a few days ago indicated that we'd expect nighttime lows of around 20ºF  (-6ºC) for a couple of days, and I don't want to expose these tiny seedlings to those conditions.

Since I need the space on the plant table for the next round of seed starting, I decided to build a cold frame over part of the veggie bed so I'd have a place to put these little plants regardless of the weather.

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I've had these PVC pipes laying around for a couple of years, ever since I stopped building my temporary greenhouse each winter.

It was surprisingly easy to find a few of the right length, and then I just connected them together, using hose clamps where needed.

Some electrical conduit scraps helped tie this into the ground for extra stability:

The frame went up in no time at all:

There are a few plants in the ground here already, like this fall-planted spinach which overwintered under straw:

They'll appreciate the extra heat too.

Next came the plastic (the kale has been covered in a wire hoop and plastic tunnel all winter):

This one is not so pretty, but it's only going to be in use for a month or so (I hope):

The whole thing became even sturdier after the plastic was attached, and these clips are key for that:

They're designed to snap over the PVC pipes, and do a great job -- although when used on a larger project like the greenhouse I found they didn't have the holding power that I expected, so I needed to screw them into place.

So that's the cold frame. Now all it needs are some plants... you'll see that tomorrow.

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