For most homestead folk—whether residing in an urban or rural setting—the opening of a brand new year can present a time for reflection, planning... and planting.

Nope, that's not a typographical error, and yep, you did read it right! I did say "planting" and I can only suspect that most readers are thinking that I somehow lost a few of my marbles along my route to maturity.

Well, not just yet, anyway. The truth of the matter is that while we traditionally conceptualize the chilly months of January and February as an ideal time for cozying up to the fireplace, stoking the wood fire, perusing seed catalogs and planning the new year's projects and garden plots, these cold months also offer a perfect time to start a small salad garden. And just imagine the refreshing thrill of harvesting some fresh spinach, lettuce, green onions or radishes for a fresh dinner salad to go with that soup or stew that's been simmering on the stove all day.

It's entirely possible—even in the dead of winter. All you need is a handful of seeds, a spot preferably near your house that has a southern exposure and a cold frame.

So what's a cold frame? Essentially, it's just an enclosed structure that sets on top of the ground or is buried just a little below ground level that contains soil within its bottom and is topped with glass or other clear material to allow the sunlight in.

But, before we get into the particulars of how to construct this type of winter garden space (actually sort of a mini-greenhouse), I'll share with you how I stumbled across the idea—so you can see how easy it is, and may get interested enough to give it a try at your place.

One January several decades ago when my daughters (then about 10 and seven years old) and I were roughing it alone, we were just doing our January thing—sitting by the fire, cooking, reading, crocheting, playing board games (the kids were bored out of their skulls and dressing up their live pet cats in doll clothes for the umpteenth time) and looking through seed catalogs.

Out of one of those catalogs fell a complimentary packet of lettuce seeds and one of my girls asked how long we had to wait to plant them. I groaned, of course, at the ridiculous thought (that's a mother for you) and dismissed her by telling her fairly sternly that Christmas had just passed and she might seriously think about waiting until around Easter to bring up the idea again.

However, later that day, when we went out to milk the goats, feed the chickens and bring in the firewood, I noticed in passing that in spite of the freezing cold weather, the sun was shining brightly. And I began to remember something I had read once about cold frames. After dinner while the girls were once again playing house with their cats, I dug up a single rudimentary paragraph on cold frames in one of the homesteading books I had. The next day, I got together some concrete blocks, pieces of wood, a couple of hay bales and a few old windows that were hiding in the barn, and while the kids were at school, constructed my first cold-frame butted up next to the house.

Once that was accomplished (such as it was) I walked up to the hardware store and picked up some potting soil and a few packets of last year's lettuce and onion seeds (on super sale!). When the girls came home from school we prepared the bottom of our bed for planting (mixing the potting soil with some manure and real soil) and stuck in the seeds. Frankly, my thought at the time was, "What have I got to lose?" Miraculously, pretty much everything grew and flourished and the girls got so preoccupied with the project, they finally left the cats alone for a spell.

Since then, I've planted in a cold frame pretty much every year—as much for nostalgia's sake as any other. The only differences are that by now my cold frames are not simply makeshift and I seed out my cold frames in December, so that by the time the new year rolls around, I can serve fresh homegrown salads on my table. Here are some tips on how to go about the process with a little pre-planning involved (instead of spur-of-the-moment makeshift like I did originally).

Location

The location is probably the most important aspect of the cold frame concept. You can have a few imperfections in the structure and still have a successful growth and harvest if you place the cold frame in a location with southern exposure so that it can receive the maximum amount of sunlight.

Unless you intend to heat it with a heating cable submerged into the soil (then it's called a hot bed), try to place your cold frame butted up against a north or northwest windbreak. The windbreak can be a building (I butt mine up against the cabin) or bales of hay or straw (I use the bales on the sides). If you do use a building as your windbreak, pay close attention to the eaves above. The reason I say this is because if you place the cold frame directly underneath the eaves (which will drip directly onto the top of it during a rainfall—or drop icicles onto it during a thaw) you're technically working at cross-purposes with yourself. Wherever you place the cold frame, you'll also want good drainage, because as the cold frame grabs the heat from the sunlight, moisture will be created within. Although you can prop up the window sash occasionally to get rid of some of the excess moisture (temperature permitting), if too much moisture accumulates at the bottom the plants will wilt and die.

Placing the cold frame on a slight slope will do the job (you can always tuck some straw, hay or even mounds of dirt around any exposed gaps along the sides).

Materials for the cold frame

You don't have to be a licensed carpenter to build a cold frame and if you've got some extra lumber (old salvaged lumber is fine, the plants don't care) and someone handy to saw it to size, you've got the project half-whipped.

The next thing you'll need is some framed glass for the top. The cheapest and most logical solution for obtaining these materials is to check your own garage or barn (you may have old windows or even doors stashed away like I did—you never know when you may need them!). If you don't have these hanging out at your place, check with your relatives or neighbors. If you bust out there, call a retail glass company and they will likely have some used windows or doors on hand (when they construct new ones for homes, they generally take back the used ones that were replaced and sell them for a song).

The main thing here is that you have something solid for the back (if necessary) and sides and an enclosed (framed) glass surface for the top. If you're absent the wood for the sides, check to see if you can get some bricks or concrete blocks. Even metal will do in a pinch—although from a personal standpoint, this would be my last choice since metal retains cold temperatures more than the wood or bricks.

Constructing the cold frame

The simplest way to get this job done is to plan the size of the cold frame around the size of the glass window sash or door you have on hand. Ideally, the back wall should be higher than the front wall. This is so that the window sash or glass top lays over the frame on angle, allowing for the best sun exposure.

Mel bartholomew, author of Square Foot Gardening, pictured with a "sun box."

If this is not possible and you have to make it flat, don't fret over it. The plants will still grow okay—they may just not grow as robust as they could have.

Whether you construct the cold frame with a higher back or level, the frame (wood, bricks or otherwise) should match the glass top so that when closed there are no air gaps and a good seal is formed to allow retention of heat and moisture.

If you happen upon a standard window sash, here are some dimensions you can go by, assuming that you will be making the back higher than the front. A standard glass sash is 3' x 6'. When this is used, the bed should be about 5' 8" (front to back) by 3' for the sides (or a multiple thereof, depending upon how many windows you want to use). The back wall should be 18" tall and the front wall should be 12" tall, with the sides cut or stacked on an appropriate angle to form a perfect seal between the frame and the glass top.

Like I mentioned before, you can always make it flat and it will still work. In fact, until I met Jim (who has a woodshop and turns his own timber and lumber), mine were always constructed flat with 2" thick lumber.

Soil preparation

Create a good soil bed by mixing compost, manure, potting soil or peat moss with existing dirt to a depth of 12" to 18". Work the mix so that you have a fairly fine consistency so that the small seeds can breathe, germinate and grow freely.

Maintaining the cold frame

Temperature:

For most seeds, the temperature inside the cold frame should reach 70-75 degrees in order to germinate. And even though the temperature outdoors may be freezing, attaining this inside cold frame temperature happens easily if the cold frame is air-tight.

Once the seeds do germinate, the temperature becomes more critical. You do not want the temperature to go below 55 degrees and you won't want them to go much higher than about 70 degrees. The way to regulate this is pretty simple. If the daytime temperatures inside the cold frame are getting too high, simply prop up the glass top for a while. If you fear the nighttime temperatures will get too low, cover up and surround the cold frame with a blanket or straw (or hay) bales.

Watering:

Some of the watering is accomplished by nature itself, as moisture will be created inside the cold frame (if properly constructed so as not to let air in—or out while closed). If the plants are receiving too much moisture, prop up the top to let some of the moisture escape. If there is not enough moisture inside, then by all means water or mist the plants—sparingly, just as you would in an ordinary garden plot. The idea here is that you want enough moisture to keep the plants going, but not so much that they wilt. However, because it is winter, you'll want to do this early enough in the day so that the plant foliage dries before nightfall—but do not lift up the top to water at a time when the outside air is very much below freezing.

What to plant

For a cold frame that's operating in the dead of winter, I'd recommend planting lettuce, radish, spinach, green onions, and Swiss chard. If you like some herbs in your salad mix, it won't hurt to sow some chive and dill seeds as well.

These all will "make" salad ingredients, and even though they may mature at varying rates, dependent upon the temperatures inside and outside the cold frame, it's pretty hard to hurt them and they do not require an abundance of maintenance or careful watching.

If you want to extend the use of your cold frame (or frames) beyond that winter salad venue and the winter season, you can use these structures as mini-greenhouses to get a head start on some plants that will later head to your garden plot, such as cabbage and broccoli.

While extension service experts say that tomato plants and other tender summer produce can be started in a cold frame, I have never experimented in that sphere since we have the greenhouse here ready and waiting.

A note about hot beds