subject: Top 10 Best Vegetables to Grow in a Cold Frame [print this page] Top 10 Best Vegetables to Grow in a Cold Frame
A cold frame is a great way to grow vegetables all winter long and get an early start on your summer crops. If you're new to gardening, cold frames are a good place to start because they make planting and harvesting simple. Cold frames are also good for city dwellers with limited space.
Building your own cold frame is easy but you can also buy one if you're not handy with a hammer and nail. Plants inside cold frames enjoy a five to ten degrees increase from the weather outside. While this is what enables them to grow, you need to keep in mind that a cold frame won't save them from all cold and it is also possible for a cold frame to get too warm for plants to grow. Know what temperature your plants need to grow comfortably and just keep an eye on your thermometer.
Green Onions
Green onions are a great addition to hearty winter soups and sprout up fast under the window glass of a well built cold frame.
Spinach
You and Pop Eye will stay strong harvesting spinach from your garden in the dead of winter.
Radishes
This pretty root veggie doesn't mind some cold weather and grows great when protected from the wind and harsh weather by a cold frame.
Carrots
No garden is complete with this staple. When using a cold frame, you don't have to worry about rabbits or gophers.
Cabbage
Plant some cabbage seeds or starts in your cold frame and soon you'll have some big, beautiful heads ready for your dinner table.
Greens
If you love your summer salads, you'll be excited to hear that you can have the same tastiness all year-round if you use a cold frame. Endives, mustard greens and turnip greens all thrive in cold frames.
Beets
Tasty beets love the cold ground in autumn winter. You'll have the best luck planting them in late August. They'll be ready to harvest in mid November, just in time for Thanksgiving.
Lettuce
Though tender and fragile, lettuce thrives in the containment of a cold frame.
Broccoli
Steam it, stew it or eat it raw, broccoli is a versatile vegetable. It grows great in cold frames as long you make your frame tall enough to let it grow.
Parsley
Keep things tasty all winter long with fresh parsley.
To learn more about beneficial effects of cold frames to the growth of vegetables, visit mastergardening.com. Additionally, cold frame purchases can be made online at mastergardening.com.
