ducks4you
Garden Master
- Joined
- Sep 4, 2009
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I keep three horses and right now, 9 chickens, so LOTS of manure! I have heard that each horse produces 40 lbs manure/day, only stalled for 1/2 the day, so I have to move half of it (~60 pounds manure/day), so getting enough fresh manure to heat the bed isn't an issue. I've been researching this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4TfmP5cA-Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xm6khNRIGhE
I also have kept about 20 old windows, many of them are aluminum bordered, so they don't rot or rust, so I have the windows for the tops. Researching just cold frames, I can see that many are very crude, just well insulated:
https://www.thisoldhouse.com/how-to/how-to-build-cold-frame
I have researched other plans, but I like this one the best bc you can custom the size. I'm NOT a builder, so I'll start this in the Spring and probably it will take me ALL summer to get it done!
Like I said on another thread, my 3' x 6' "Salad Garden" is a raised bed with 8 inch tall wooden borders and they are starting to rot out. It sits by itself with full sun all day.
I think it's really good to try and I'd rather fail on a small scale. I know what you mean about scorching the plants, but I love the idea of hardening seedlings out in this, too. This morning I dug 1/2 of it about 8 inches below ground, and if I use it later in the Spring I can keep the seedlings out of direct Spring winds just by removing the windows. We ALL know these things need babysitting!!
Btw, we horse owners are good about letting our outside manure degrade on it's own! Horses don't like to drop where they eat. My 3 acre rectangular north pasture has manure piles in the corners and along the fence lines but very little in the rest of it. In fact, I'm buying a broadcast seeder to spread manure in it this Spring. I was watching "Garden Smart" and the host showed how you sift your manure/compost to get the pieces to be fine, and they you can spread it that way. My north pasture NEEDS fertilizer and it's $25.00 vs a manure spreader for $1,500.00
I don't care if it takes me a full week to spread it, it will be worth it. The program showed commericial fertilizer companies spraying it onto a lawn, again, in the Spring.
YOU know how it is---you get this idea about what you what and it keeps bugging you, that's me and a cold frame.
Also, live and learn. I moved a tropical hibiscus inside and it' been badly kept, sometimes in the dark, sometimes in the pantry with the ceiling light on for sometimes 3 days at a time. It is growing and loves it next to the south facing window downstairs in the basement. I think it may flower again, soon. I think that ice is what kills off our plants in the Fall, and like you said, scorching them!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xm6khNRIGhE
I also have kept about 20 old windows, many of them are aluminum bordered, so they don't rot or rust, so I have the windows for the tops. Researching just cold frames, I can see that many are very crude, just well insulated:
https://www.thisoldhouse.com/how-to/how-to-build-cold-frame
I have researched other plans, but I like this one the best bc you can custom the size. I'm NOT a builder, so I'll start this in the Spring and probably it will take me ALL summer to get it done!
Like I said on another thread, my 3' x 6' "Salad Garden" is a raised bed with 8 inch tall wooden borders and they are starting to rot out. It sits by itself with full sun all day.
I think it's really good to try and I'd rather fail on a small scale. I know what you mean about scorching the plants, but I love the idea of hardening seedlings out in this, too. This morning I dug 1/2 of it about 8 inches below ground, and if I use it later in the Spring I can keep the seedlings out of direct Spring winds just by removing the windows. We ALL know these things need babysitting!!
Btw, we horse owners are good about letting our outside manure degrade on it's own! Horses don't like to drop where they eat. My 3 acre rectangular north pasture has manure piles in the corners and along the fence lines but very little in the rest of it. In fact, I'm buying a broadcast seeder to spread manure in it this Spring. I was watching "Garden Smart" and the host showed how you sift your manure/compost to get the pieces to be fine, and they you can spread it that way. My north pasture NEEDS fertilizer and it's $25.00 vs a manure spreader for $1,500.00
I don't care if it takes me a full week to spread it, it will be worth it. The program showed commericial fertilizer companies spraying it onto a lawn, again, in the Spring.
YOU know how it is---you get this idea about what you what and it keeps bugging you, that's me and a cold frame.
Also, live and learn. I moved a tropical hibiscus inside and it' been badly kept, sometimes in the dark, sometimes in the pantry with the ceiling light on for sometimes 3 days at a time. It is growing and loves it next to the south facing window downstairs in the basement. I think it may flower again, soon. I think that ice is what kills off our plants in the Fall, and like you said, scorching them!
