Planting A Straw Bale Hot House

Farmer Man laying the rows!

Since building our straw bale cold frames, we've been monitoring the temperature with an air thermometer.  We seem to have killed our soil thermometer by leaving it unprotected on a shelf in the greenhouse all winter - oops!  With the windows on all the time, daytime temperatures can be as much as fifteen degrees warmer than outside and nighttime temperatures are as much as five degrees warmer.  Very acceptable ranges, so time to plant!  We've decided to use all old seed for planting the first one, to use up the seed and because this is an experiment and it's highly possible that we may let things get too hot inside.  We're a little unsure of how this should work, in practice.  If we let it get too hot inside during the day will the seeds be 'unhappy'.  Or do we want to let it get really hot during the day so that the soil has lots of warmth going into the night?  The forecast is for nights around freezing, and we think that we are more worried about that then really hot temperatures during the day, for now.  We can, of course, remove the windows during the day; we're just afraid we're going to forget!

Doodles found his way into the unplanted bed!

So, we chose 'Nantes Half Long' carrots, 'Russian Red' kale, Claytonia or miner's lettuce, 'Renegade' spinach, arugula, 'Esmerelda' lettuce and Black Spanish radishes.  The carrots are 2010 seeds, everything else is 2011 seed.  Farmer Man raked the bed and then, using the rake, marked shallow rows. I followed behind laying the seed quite thickly.  First design flaw we noticed in the bed:  Farmer Man had taken a scoop of soil out to create a mound for the bed, so that the bed could be sloped to the south.  The back wall is almost four feet high, standing in the scooped out area, and it's a little hard to reach into the bed.  That's an easy fix, we just have to put a scoop of soil in that area.  Other than that, the bed works quite well, easy to reach from the sides and front!  We found the soil in the bed very dry so we'll have to keep on eye on moisture levels!  Farmer Man dug out almost every hose we own: as the irrigation system is not yet running water will be coming from the house.  Better than hauling water and watering cans, and we have no big use for them anywhere else, yet!  Now, nothing to do but wait, watch and water!  Perhaps, just perhaps, we'll be having a delightful, fresh salad in about a month!

Raised Bed/Cold Frame Aagaard Farms' Style!

North side, high side.

We've been talking for a couple of years about building cold frames and raised beds.  Both have big advantages for extending the season - a boon in our cold Manitoba climate where our last frost date is June 6th and our first Fall frost date is September 9th.  Yes, that's right - we've got four months to grow everything.  Manitoba has been known to get snow in mid-June and we've gotten frost as early as August 21st!  It's a good idea, especially if you grow vegetables for a living, to have protection, back up plans so to speak!  To that end, we've had great luck with our hoop houses or high tunnels over the last few years and we do plan to build a second this year.  After we fix the first one....again.  Even with a heavy-duty plastic cover, the hoop houses are prone to winter damage from the weight of snow and high winds.

Cold frames are in-ground beds with a glass or plastic cover.  The glass cover creates a solar affect, heating up the soil inside faster than the surrounding ground.  Seedlings are protected from wind and excessive moisture, the soil retains some heat in the evening and they'll provide some degrees of frost protection if the temperature dips or it snows.  If electricity is available, soil warming cables can be put in the bed to ensure good night-time temperatures!  As daytime temperatures increase, the glass covers can be opened or moved to keep temperatures at a reasonable level, then returned later in the day.

Raised beds are beds built above the existing soil.  They can be constructed of various materials and you can pretty much choose your height.  They can be built over soil that is of questionable quality and filled with a rich, nutritious mix.  They also raise the working area - a bonus for bad backs for both weeding and harvesting.  Raised beds have become popular features in retirement communities where, with a solid walkway, even people in wheelchairs can continue to garden.  They are also really useful in urban areas where they can be constructed over concrete or really depleted city soils and be really productive.  They are also visually appealing, providing some variance in height.  We've seen beds built of natural stone, old brick, reclaimed chunks of concrete, lumber and timber.  If growing food in your raised beds we would highly recommend avoiding treated wood of any kind, including railroad ties!


So, Farmer Man has been reading and thinking on these things for a couple of years.  When a neighbor offered free small bales of straw, Farmer Man saw an opportunity!  This being such a mellow winter, the snow has already melted from the area he had in mind.  He'd been thinking about an area along our front driveway, close to the road.  It's an area of poor soil, prone to erosion.  He started by discing the whole area to chop up last year's plant debris and loosen up the soil.  He next used the tractor to take one scoop of soil to create a mound.  You see, cold frames should be oriented south, to catch maximum sunlight!  He started the frame of the bed, in straw, on the mound, as the high point and back.  He then continued to lay out bales until he had a rectangle, lower in the front, south side.  The opening is about seven feet long and three and a half feed wide.  He then filled the bed with a screened mix of our own two year old compost and well-aged manure purchased last year from the Research Centre.  The opening was then covered with some old windows he had stashed.  He weighted down the windows, just to be safe.

All this just happened yesterday, two beds were created.  I went searching today for a spare thermometer and got it in place, on the shady side, so we can monitor the temperature over the next few days to get an idea of how these beds are working.  The straw bale construction is certainly being tested today, as we've had winds all day of 35 kph with gust to 55kph (about 24 mph with gusts to 40 mph)!  If temperatures seem reasonable, we'll probably start by seeding some lettuce and maybe some onions early next week!  We'll keep you posted!