Last year we built our first cold frame on Odom’s Idle Acres. I was pretty uncertain as to how successful it would be. As a matter of fact, I was pretty uncertain as to how to even build it. Alas, my old friend Google helped me out.

A cold frame offers a pretty comfortable environment for less hardy plants through the winter months in colder regions. Granted middle-Georgia is not exactly a frozen tundra, it does have some pretty nippy days in the dead of winter. Because we wanted to try our hand at fresh lettuce through the aforementioned months, we opted to build a basic cold frame box that would rely solely on the heat and warmth of the sun.

The first thing to consider before building a cold frame is location, location, location. A shady spot won’t produce enough sun to keep plants warm, so choose a spot that receives an ample amount of sunlight each day. A south-facing wall works the best. We went with the side of the house with southern exposure. Even in late January it was getting 6 solid hours of sun a day.

The next step for the success of a cold frame requires butting it up against an existing structure: your home, garage, out building, or solid fence will do nicely. Obviously, a heated home will give added warmth to the cold frame, but other buildings will work, also. By placing the cold frame in front of a building you’re providing protection from winds and the elements to some degree. Ours was well tucked into the corner of the back porch and house.

Next on the list of must haves for an ideal location is a site with good drainage. It will do little good if the plants sitting inside the cold frame are stuck with their feet in water all winter. They will not survive in wet conditions. The ideal spot would be slightly sloped to allow for water to flow away from the cold frame. You may consider building a slope yourself. For added insulation, set the cold frame into the earth just a bit.

Building the Cold Frame

The top of most cold frames made at home are old window sashes. Ours was. Earlier in the year when building our main chicken coop I had put out an ad in the newspaper asking for spare building materials and old wood. One gentleman responded with an offer of 21 old, single pane windows. A couple of those ended up being perfect for our cold frame. The panes of glass let the sunshine in. When building yours, the dimensions of the frame depend on the size of the window you use. You will need to hinge the window, so purchase heavy duty hinges. An extremely simple cold frame is nothing more than cement blocks lined up to hold a window on top.

If you opt for a wood frame as we did, make sure the wood will not decompose. The wood we chose was heart pine and was at one time flooring for an old farm house. It was donated to us and was in excellent shape. We didn’t have enough for any other project so we found this to be a great use for the lumber. Cypress or cedar are also good choices for the wood frame though. Keep one thing in mind as you build your cold frame: do not make it so wide that you cannot easily reach the plants at the back, especially if you’re growing vegetables in the cold frame. Three to four feet is the maximum width for most people to reach the back for weeding or harvesting.

Build the frame to fit the windows, higher in the back than in the front. Add weights to keep the window sashes from blowing open during strong winter storms. You’ll also want to include a way to keep the window open for ventilation during warm days when the temperature reaches above 45 degrees. A prop comes in handy for this purpose.

Using Your Cold Frame

Seasoned gardeners know the advantages of a cold frame. I am neither a seasoned gardener nor did I know the real advantages of the cold frame. Those masters though know to use it to harden off seedlings in the spring that were started indoors. You can also start annual seedlings in a cold frame to get a head start on growing plants before the earth is ready to be planted. This offers various blooming or harvesting times. The plants started in the cold frame will mature sooner than those planted directly in the garden. Plant cool weather crops in the autumn – it’s possible to plant, grow and harvest fresh herbs, greens and root crops like carrots throughout the winter if the thermometer doesn’t plummet too low. Additional insulation may help in your winter growing endeavors. We used ours for lettuce and a few onion rows.

Two problems may arise in your cold frame, both from the weather. If you do not open the windows on sunny days, your plants could fry in the heat of the sun and the reflection of the glass windows. On the other hand, if a cold snap hits with freezing temperatures lingering, the plants may freeze. If in doubt, cover the entire cold frame in old blankets or burlap bags. Just be sure to uncover when the sun comes out to warm the cold frame again.

A cold frame gives you the opportunity for fresh greens and herbs in the dead of winter. It protects semi-hardy plants from dying off in freezing temperatures. It extends the growing season in the spring and in the winter. Best of all, it requires little money and few materials to build and recycles old windows. Build a cold frame and discover yet another way to make nature work for you and your plants.

To borrow a line(s) from Midnight Oil, “The time has come / A fact’s a fact / It belongs to them/ Let’s give it back”

And so with winter on the wing, we have realized the soil is not really ours and we have given it back to the earth for a few more months. What am I talking about? Well, this morning I harvested the last of the Georgia Southern Creole Collards and pulled the roots. I have to say though. It was a very good season for the leafy greens.

As a member of the cabbage family, Collards plants are much less known. As far as I understand, Collards are closely related to Kale. They are a strong flavored, open leafed cabbage that are clipped when leafy as they don’t form a large, round head, at all.

I found out though that outside the deep South they aren’t all that popular. The only reason I can imagine is because of the taste. Collards have a strong taste, and can sometime be quite bitter if allowed to grow in warmer weather.

Sowing Collard Seeds:

Many areas (including our zone) can grow a spring and a fall crop. All members of the cabbage family can withstand frosts and freezes and collards are no different. Plan to place your seeds or seedlings in your garden as one of the first crops. They take up quite a bit of room as the leaves shoot up and out and if you time your crop right, you will have ONLY a couple weeks in the middle of summers’ heat and humidity when you are not growing Collards. This is actually good, as these plants do not like high heat and dry conditions. In fact we think of them as cool to cold crops actually.

TIP: If you plant early in the year, consider using a raised row or bed to allow better drainage during early spring rains.

We chose to sew our seeds outdoors in a raised bed setting that had been home to onions back in the spring and early summer. The soil in said bed was adequately composted with chicken manure and the levels were as perfect as we could ask for. We put our collard seeds in rows forming a seedbed of sorts. This allows for better control of the spacing of your seedlings. The plant seeds were pushed by thumb about 1/2 inch deep. We watered them only until we saw shoots. Then we allowed the morning dew and natural rain to be the only irrigation.

About 6 weeks into our crop we had to thin out the plants so they could grow well and not choke each other out. The final spacing ended up being about 18 to 24 inches apart, in rows three feet apart. NOTE: The outer leaves of a healthy plant will spread and cover a lot of space.

Days to Maturity:

Collard greens are normally harvested in 70 – 80 days. We allowed our most recent crop to grow until the first frost. That was approximately 118 days from planting to harvesting. At that point we cut them with sharp, garden shears and then allowed the plants to continue growing for a 2nd, 3rd, and, YES, 4th harvesting. It really was unbelievable to us.

Insects and Pests:

While we had absolutely no problems this season, all members of the cabbage family are extremely susceptible to insects. Collards are no exception. Among the most common are aphids, and cabbage loopers. Cabbage loopers the larva stage of a moth. Those white moths that visit your garden and yard are the culprits. Effective treatment in the home garden is to place a screen over the plant so the moth can not lay her eggs.

I was so very pleased when I spoke to my mother yesterday and she told me the one watermelon that survived the drought conditions this summer had been picked after a few days of final ripening.

I asked her how the taste was and she left out no detail. “When I went to slice it open,” she said, “it almost split itself. The rind was thin but the the melon had so much meat. I really couldn’t believe how much juice came from it.” I was jealous that I didn’t get to witness it all. She continued, “And when we bit into it, it was just so sweet. It is definitely the best watermelon I have had all summer.”

That meant the world to me. My momma loves watermelon and has eaten from at least 7 or 8 this season so for our little Sugar Baby Watermelon to be her favorite….well, that was just too cool.

What about you? How did your melons do this year? Any seed I should consider next year?

This past year I have been fortunate enough to write for several publications including Farmers’ Almanac online. My work there led to an invite to write for the 2011 print edition; American and Canadian editions. And now, as of Monday, my article will be on newsstands everywhere.

The article, 5 Gardening Trends for 2011 and Beyond, is three pages of advice, trends, and tips for the upcoming year in the garden. I can hardly remember what I wrote, to be honest, but I am sure that one day soon I’ll make myself sit down to reread my thoughts.

Published every year since 1818, the Farmers’ Almanac is the go-to source for inspirational and useful tips. Time tested and generation approved, each edition of the Farmers’ Almanac is a compendium of knowledge on weather, gardening, cooking, remedies, managing your household, preserving the earth and more.

And to celebrate the publishing I am going to be giving away a copy of the American edition. To be eligible you need only:

• Comment on this blog post
• Post about my entry on your own blog (and provide me a link)
• Promote this contest on Twitter (and hashtag it with #farmersalmanac
• Post a status update on Facebook (and tag me)
• Send me a personal email including your social security number, bank account number, and PIN

Today brought about a bittersweet time at the raised beds.

For the last week I have spent a little bit of time each morning before work weeding a little, clipping dead growth, and outright pulling tomato plants. This morning I pulled the last plant and I have to admit I was a bit sad as the spring/summer season has been extremely good to us in terms of toms and bell peppers (both planted in the raised beds).

But as all things tend to go, the old had to make way for the new. So by 10am or so Pan and I had finished weeding the beds, turning over the old dirt, adding in some Black Kow topsoil, putting in a little organic plant food, and laying in new seed.

The three beds are now home for what will be a great harvest of Georgia Creole Collards, Lolla Rossa Lettuce, Swiss Chard, Kale, and Beets.

What about you? Have you planted for the fall yet? Are you still harvesting spring/summer crops? If so, what are you planning for the fall?

Oftentimes we plan our gardens so well that we never take into consideration that we are but stewards of the land. Where a seed is dropped a plant can grow. It doesn’t matter all the time if we water it systematically or we allow it only X amount of sun per day. It doesn’t even matter if we suspend the plant correctly and allow it ample bedding so as not to bruise the fruit. A plant is a living organism and as such, is always full of surprises.

Thus is the case when last night, frustrated with our lack of melon production, we noticed this little gal resting in one of the holes in the cinderblocks that composed the melon raised bed. At first we thought it a loss. But I picked it up, cut it open with my pocket knife, and found one of the sweetest, most beautifully ripe, cantaloupes I have ever eaten.

Thank you Father for surprises!

I admit, I have spent a little too much time lately thinking about what our garden(s) has NOT done for us this year. There have been moments of frustration, bugs galore, long, hot days, and rotten fruit. Despite all we have managed to get a great start on our fall/winter preserves. To date we have put away 45 lbs. of yellow onions, 8 quarts of strawberries, 4 gallons of peaches, 3 gallons of blueberries, 3 gallons of blackberries, 37 heads of lettuce (both european and buttercrunch combined), 13 quarts of bell pepper, 8 quarts of crookneck squash, 2 quarts of zuchini, 5 quarts of green beans, 11 quarts of zipper peas, 2 quarts of butter beans, 10 gallons of sweet corn (purchased from a local farmer), countless fresh herbs which we dried, ground, and put in the cupboard, 7 quarts of dill pickles, and 6 quarts of stewed tomatoes. We have also made 14 quarts of apple butter, 7 quarts of strawberry freezer jam, 1 quart of pesto, 8 quarts of blueberry jam, and 4 gallons of okra ready for frying.

WOW! Just seeing it in writing has gotten me excited. We have already exceeded last years bounty and it is only mid-July. We still have a solid month of beans, peas, potatoes, okra, etc. And that isn’t to mention the fall crops.

We also started a flock of “meat chickens” about 13 weeks ago so they are about ready to process for meat and stock which will go nicely beside our side of grass-fed beef and our portions of locally harvested pork.

None of this comes easy though. We have worked hard; both before planting and during the harvest. Not to mention the hours of peeling, chopping, stirring, and processing. It isn’t easy at all but it sure is rewarding.

My one hope though is that everyone who reads this post is experiencing their own wonderful bounty -  be it one tomato plant or 500 acres of soybean.

For flowers that bloom about our feet;
For tender grass, so fresh, so sweet;
For song of bird, and hum of bee;
For all things fair we hear or see,
Father in heaven, we thank Thee!
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Corn needs nitrogen rich soil with a neutral pH to grow. Corn is wind pollinated and does best planted in blocks rather than in rows (despite traditional methods). Corn needs a fair amount of water and does best when watered by natural, nitrogen-rich, rain.

The corn we planted this year (for the first time mind you) was planted in poorly composted and fed soil; not to mention tight, crisp, clay soil. It was planted in long rows; two varieties – North Carolina sweet and common field corn. Our corn received only 9 total days of rain since planted on April 10 and 11. The rest of the water came from sprinklers set for an hour every 3 days.

The result was less than we had hoped for.

Today I realized that several of our stalks were completely ready to be stripped; tassles were browning and cobs were rounded rather than pointed. The only problem was many of the cobs were a bit soft and showed signs of Earworms and Armyworms. I had mixed reactions for sure. I was pleased that we had, in fact, grown corn – tall stalks even. But I was not pleased that so much of our corn was useless. It was bittersweet.

After about 35 minutes or so of picking I brought the basket of husks up to Pan and presented her with the cobs of our labor; full of pride, full of appreciation, and somewhat full of apologies. I had promised her earlier in the season that this year we wouldn’t have to supplement our freezer with purchased corn from other local farmers. I told her we would have our own corn!

Without an adverse word she shucked them, cleaned them, and prepared them for dinner. As I sat down to eat I was presented – lovingly, mind you – with some of the ugliest corn I had ever laid my eyes on. Kernels were missing. Kernels were small. Kernels were swollen. And I haven’t even begun to talk about the taste…or should I say lack thereof. If it weren’t for butter my saying grace would have sounded as such: “Lord, thank you for allowing us to grow this corn and for it filling an empty spot in our stomachs. But Lord, could you place upon it a miracle; one that involves taste…please? Amen.”

So what I have I learned from all this? I have learned that field corn is best reserved for livestock and not cross-pollination experiments. I have learned that anyone can plant a seed but only a farmer with heart can patiently prepare the soil to cultivate a solid result. And I learned that my wife loves me and my Goonie corn!

The other week I received a blog post request from my friend, fellow ‘gonzo gardener,’ and blogger . The request went something like this, “Hey Drew. Do you think you could write up a piece on composting? Home-made barrel vs. store bought vs. in-ground. Looking forward to the post. Thanks for all your tips buddy!”

I was honored. Sure I write for a few publications like GRIT, Farmers Almanac, and Small Town Living, but those all pale in comparison when a personal friend asks for advice. You can’t hide from folks that know you should you give poor advice. So after weeks of thinking and debating with myself which form of compost I prefer I went back to Kevin and simply said:

I have gone over this and over this in my mind Kevin and even started writing some things out. But what I keep coming back to is how many variables are in composting. In regards to “home made” you have hot, cold, with worm, w/o worm, kitchen scraps, yard debris, manure or not, etc. In regards to store bought you have high pH, low pH, nutrient enhanced, natural and organic, GM, etc. It is a tough question and I think the answer really is a case by case thing. For me it depending on if I was planting in a large area or a small, raised bed scenario. In the case of the former I went with home-made compost that consisted of yard debris, kitchen scraps, and chicken poo. In the raised beds I preferred Black Kow from the feed ‘n seed store as it was cheaper and easier. For our herb beds we just collect kitchen scraps in a can inside and then work it into the topsoil about once every month.

I then asked Kevin what his thoughts were and as luck would have it, it was he who offered me the advice. He responded,

“I’m wanting to compare the effectiveness of a barrel over direct burial over a simple heap. I direct bury which makes for less maintenance on my part. I do this to work on next years growing soil with very little work. However, the decomp. process is much slower and the goodness isn’t as readily available.

There is a lot of hub-bub surrounding compost boxes and barrels. Both of which require a few muscles to be used along with a few shots of water weekly. It’s almost like tending to a dead garden

. However, the goodness is ready in just a few short weeks……as long as the scientific portion is tended to. This is where most folks tend to walk away and go back to the Miracles and the Peters for the juice.

I try to do what “they” did back in the yonder years with as little new day “theys” impressing upon a system that works flawlessly. The barrels and boxes are fun and neat to build but require a good amount of attention. This is indicative of humans altering Mother Natures Natural ways. When we do, we call it “science.” When we don’t………well…..we don’t. Bury it. It’s better for the scape and doesn’t emit gasses like Methane. I think composting is the best way. And others ways of getting the result will vary.
Worms are definitely a great way to go. Vermiculture – another scientific term – is great for the environment yet still require a good amount of attention from the gardener. However, if you have a good amount of worms in your soil then Direct Bury works good.

No matter what we do, at the end of the day we have tended to the earth in the best possible ways we have adopted for ourselves. Even the man-made fertilizer users. Nothing, by the way, is man-made. It all comes from the ground….even my compost.”

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You can follow Kevin and his wife Nadine at