Hot beds?

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11-07-2017, 07:24 PM
janedoe

Hot beds?

I'm doing a raised hot bed this year. Has anyone done this? Mine is about nine inches high but it could be higher. I'm using newspaper at the base, small sticks, straw, goat manure and bedding, leaf compost and soil on top. It's supposed to raise the temp by about 25 F.

Any thoughts? How long do you think I get through a New England winter with collards, kale and chard?
11-08-2017, 05:26 PM
POPTOP

Are you going to use a cover of some sort too? That would help hold the warmth for a little longer.
11-08-2017, 06:47 PM
janedoe

Quote:

Originally Posted by POPTOP

Are you going to use a cover of some sort too? That would help hold the warmth for a little longer.

That's a good idea. I have couple of row covers with half hoop frames. I can use those.
11-09-2017, 06:09 AM
Kleb

Quote:

Originally Posted by janedoe

That's a good idea. I have couple of row covers with half hoop frames. I can use those.

We have one raised bed that I use PVC pipe bent over and cover with vapour barrier clipped on to form a mini-hoop tunnel. Two years ago we had a Xmas salad for four from it. One plant survived the entire winter and we had a small bit of early lettuce. This year I planted it in August and have four lettuce varieties, arugula and some beets in it. Tonight will be our test. It’s suppose to get windy and cold. I’ll probably need to secure the covering better and may even throw a blanket over top for extra insulation.
Last year I used some straw bales to protect the kale. It survived the winter and one of the plants is still in the garden. It produced seeds, so I plan to plant them next spring. It’s probably time to pull it up but I don’t have the heart to do it since it’s such a tough ol’ thing.
11-09-2017, 06:02 PM
janedoe

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kleb

We have one raised bed that I use PVC pipe bent over and cover with vapour barrier clipped on to form a mini-hoop tunnel. Two years ago we had a Xmas salad for four from it. One plant survived the entire winter and we had a small bit of early lettuce. This year I planted it in August and have four lettuce varieties, arugula and some beets in it. Tonight will be our test. It’s suppose to get windy and cold. I’ll probably need to secure the covering better and may even throw a blanket over top for extra insulation.
Last year I used some straw bales to protect the kale. It survived the winter and one of the plants is still in the garden. It produced seeds, so I plan to plant them next spring. It’s probably time to pull it up but I don’t have the heart to do it since it’s such a tough ol’ thing.

Please let me know how that goes.
11-10-2017, 08:16 AM
Kleb

https://uniim1.shutterfly.com/ng/ser...319930/enhance
This is from the beginning of November.

https://uniim1.shutterfly.com/ng/ser...319914/enhance

All covered up and ready for winter.
I haven't checked it today to see how the lettuce survived. Our low last night was -7C.
11-10-2017, 08:30 PM
janedoe

That is a nice setup! Thank you for posting that. When you were talking about the hoops earlier this year, I couldn't picture it. Stabilizing them across the top makes so much sense.
11-11-2017, 07:00 AM
Kleb

Quote:

Originally Posted by janedoe

That is a nice setup! Thank you for posting that. When you were talking about the hoops earlier this year, I couldn't picture it. Stabilizing them across the top makes so much sense.

Thanks. I got the idea from “The Year-Round Vegetable Gardener”, by Niki Jabbour. Her book has some pretty good ideas. The mini-hoop tunnel allows us to get a head start on the season and have things later in the season. I wish we had a bigger space for veggie garden. We still manage to get quite a bit from it.
I checked the lettuce yesterday afternoon and it looked fine.
11-15-2017, 06:49 PM
janedoe

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kleb

Thanks. I got the idea from “The Year-Round Vegetable Gardener”, by Niki Jabbour. Her book has some pretty good ideas. The mini-hoop tunnel allows us to get a head start on the season and have things later in the season. I wish we had a bigger space for veggie garden. We still manage to get quite a bit from it.
I checked the lettuce yesterday afternoon and it looked fine.

I'll have to get the book. I put together ours the last couple of days. The goats are tired of the intrusion. :) Looks good though!