Extra Cold Frame

So the Two Acre Farm winter production isn't look so hot. My plan of growing spinach through the winter has officially been obliterated. The plants are looking alive and green but no growth and as the pictures show they aren't exactly overheated. Although I haven’t ever put a thermometer inside the mini greenhouses / cold frames I am certain they stay significantly warmer than outside. I came to this conclusion when I discovered the dirt is frozen several inches deep outside but inside the cold frames it isn’t frozen at all yet, good to know. I could make things better by putting in extra panes of glass or extra insulation but I am not that interested in spinach in winter. I had a gut feeling these would wind up for seed starting but I figured giving them a shot as mini greenhouses couldn't hurt.

On the bright side we have a great place to start cold hardy seedlings without taking up space inside and they gave us some beautiful displays of frost. The way the frost has formed reminds me of grass or feathers. I am not sure which but it really is terrific. I hope everyone enjoys it.

Frost

It always humors me how everyone has their gardens torn out by September. I always try and tell people how they could be harvesting produce into November even here in the Midwest often with no special care. Most people look at me like I'm insane. I currently still have cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, peas, lettuce, spinach, and kale in my garden despite having had at least four frosts already. We just had another pretty hard frost yesterday; it dropped down to 29 degrees fahrenheit on my thermometer.

I also wanted to give an update on the mini greenhouses. My transplanted spinach is hanging tough and the first seeds have emerged! Interestingly enough I noticed the first seedlings the morning after the 29 degree night. So far the greenhouses are working very well. There are a lot of pictures below. I hope you enjoy them.

Notice the chewed up cabbage and cauliflower leaves. I am starting to think BT is overrated. The cabbage worm damage has had no effect on my harvest. In fact the cabbage heads themselves are nearly undamaged.