Cold Frame Gardening

If you live in a colder climate, cold frame gardening can extend your gardening season through autumn and even into winter! Cold frame gardening is also great for starting seedlings in the early spring for summer planting or for root vegetable gardening and many tender plants such as lettuce.

While there are a few basics to keep in mind when building and placing your cold frame, you can let your budget and your imagination be your guide. You can build your frame out of almost any material ranging from bales of hay to concrete or brick. Building a cold frame is a great way to re-purpose wood and windows. All you have to remember is that you need 4 walls to trap heat and moisture and clear lid to let in the light. This can windows, plexi glass, or plastic sheeting.

Your lid size will determine the size of your cold frame. They can be as large as you want to make them, but usually they are no larger than 3x6 with the back at least 4-6 inches higher than the front.

You will want to place your cold frame facing south with good drainage and some protection from the wind. If you have an area that is slightly sloped, this would be ideal. You can make your cold frame a permanent fixture or design it so that you can break it down when not in use.

Temperature is the key to gardening with a cold frame. You will want the temperature to be cool instead of warm. You can adjust the temperature by raising the lid. Just be sure to close it at night. If it is extremely cold, you may have to add some additional insulation such as hay, old blankets or newspapers to the top.

Cold frames are also great for storing dormant plants over the winter. You will want to place them in pot and cut them back before storing. Place them tightly in the cold frame and add leaves or mulch to any gaps.

Cold frames are great to start seedlings since they will be better acclimated to the climate outside. If you are using a portable cold frame, make sure to have it up and ready at least 2 weeks prior to starting your seedlings to give the soil time to get warm.

Here are a couple of sites that offer much more information regarding temperature regulation and ideas for types of plants that you can grow in your cold frame.

As always your comments are welcome!

Fair Trade Coffee: Is It Really Fair?

I love coffee. I mean I really love it. I could and do drink coffee at all hours of the day and night. In my quest to live a greener life, I have had to look at the coffee that I don't seem to be able to live without for long periods of time.....like 5 hours or more.

There are a lot of words that are thrown around the "environmental movement" that are Greek to most of us. Fair Trade Coffee is one of them for me. Exactly what is Fair Trade Coffee? Is it the same as organic coffee? Is it readily available for the masses? Is the cost preventing most of us from purchasing it on a regular basis? These are all valid questions that you may be asking yourself. While there is a plethora of information out there, the jury is still out on how beneficial purchasing Fair Trade Coffee actually is for the "common" coffee farmer.

Fair Trade Coffee in a nutshell is coffee "that is certified as having been produced to fair trade standards." Now in theory Fair Trade Coffee sounds like a great idea.If we can use our dollars to purchase items that are helping others to get a decent wage, promote sustainable farming practices and get better import/export conditions for the farmer, that is a good thing right? I would have to answer yes and no. Yes, it is a good thing to help the smaller coffee farmers earn a decent living. It is also a good thing that these organizations help with better farming practices that are short and long term better for the environment. However, there are several organizations within the Fair Trade family but there seems to be little organization.  

Not all organic coffee is Fair Trade coffee. Organic refers to the growing methods used. Fair Trade is more of a social issue than an actual farming method. As most of us know, commercial farmers use harmful pesticides, mass production often using GMOs and destroying land unnecessarily in the process. By buying organic coffee, you can usually be assured that strict rules have been followed to ensure that the above listed issues have been eliminated from the farm(s).

So I know you are wondering about your Venti Mocha Latte with that extra shot of espresso. I mean when you pay upwards of 6 bucks for a cup of coffee, it should be organic AND Fair Trade in my opinion. Well, I went to Starbucks' website to set my mind at ease. This company has their own responsible growing program along with purchasing Fair Trade organic coffee. Starbucks coffee is available at most supermarkets so you can purchase your own to brew at home.

There are several organic coffees that are readily available through websites, grocers and coffee clubs. However, if you are looking for organic and Fair Trade, be prepared to dig a little deeper. Equal Exchange offers a variety of Fair Trade, organic coffees that are available here. For more information on the difference between organic and Fair Trade, you can check out this link.  This site has older data but, it gives you an idea of just how much Fair Trade coffee is being bought by grocers, coffee houses and the like. The latest data is from 2011 so bear that in mind. However, it does list several companies that only buy Fair Trade coffee which can give you a starting point.

Last but not least, your Fair Trade coffee should have the Fair Trade Logo on the bag. Below are the two most common logos that I found. Now if your pocket book cannot not afford Starbucks or Equal Exchange, Sam's Club sell Free Trade coffee and that is readily available at your local Wal Mart!

As always I would love to hear your comments on this issue. Please feel free to comment below!

No Diggity My Experiences With A No Dig Garden

Since I don't live in a Martha Stewart Compound, I am somewhat limited as to what I can grow. I have tried various plants of various varieties. I have tried a few methods that are more conducive to the way of life I am trying to achieve. Since I am not a horticulturist nor a soil engineer, my methods have all been the trial and error kind. I am hoping that you can learn from me and I can learn from you.

The last house I lived in had absolutely no trees in the backyard! I truly had a blank canvas to work with. I am a big fan of the "no dig" method of gardening for a couple reasons. The first being I don't have to call all the utility companies and wait for them to come out and mark the spots of all the various lines that run from the house. I also do not own all the equipment required for traditional gardening.

This method is time consuming but I do like the idea of being able plant without all that preparation beforehand. While there are many ways to use the no dig method, I usually take the easiest way so I can get in the dirt sooner. The first time I used this method I took a large tarp and covered the ground that I had chosen for my garden. Like most people, I decided in the summer that I should have planted a garden.This actually worked because I was able to get the ground prepped all winter. You can also just cover the ground with newspapers or cardboard and add mulch or compost or both to get the desired depth. I chose to kill the grass with the tarp because I have used newspapers and the like in my flower beds and I find that this is a sufficient method for smaller areas. Newspapers take about 18 months to decompose so you may have to add more newspapers the following year to keep weeds under control. If you have a compost bin, you can use your own compost. Most nurseries will sell you compost so check around and make sure that you are getting compost and not mulch. The only thing I added to the soil was turkey manure.

My first experience was not a Martha Stewart moment. I knew nothing about companion planting or watering or even if I was planting things at the right time of the year. I know a lot of this sounds pretty dim witted but, I used my local garden center and as you know, they usually put everything out in the spring whether it is the proper time or not. So needless to say, it was hit or miss. I did manage to get tomatoes, hot peppers and bell peppers. Not to shabby for my first time!

I have since moved in to an older subdivision that has more mature trees in the yard. There are also animal issues such as birds, squirrels, cats and the like. I tried my hand at raised gardening this year and the jury is still out on whether I will use this method again or not. I do have some ideas that I am going to try next year but that is for another post.

Happy planting and thanks for stopping by!