A couple of months ago, my friend Nancy inspired me to start a new raised garden bed by saying she’d used all kinds of garden waste to build up the underlayers. Thinking I could do a nice organic shape, I made the curvy bed without any boards to support the sides.
When my Swiss chard sprang back to life a few weeks ago, I decided to try transforming the bed into a cold frame. The hoops that were to hold the plastic over it were hard to get into the ground, and after I did, they were kind of floppy. Nancy explained that she put pieces of rebar into the ground and just slipped the hoop tubing over the end of each rebar. I questioned about where to get the rebar and whether I would have to cut it.
“The hardware store carries short pieces already cut. Why don’t you come over and take a look at mine? We can have some tea and I’ll show you the setup, but let’s get the rebar first and then come back for tea and this great new yogurt I found. “
“Girls’ day out,” I said.
“Yeah, shop and eat,” she laughed. “Not your usual places, though.”
The Fortress
After the hardware store, Nancy showed me her garden fortress. She needs one in order to protect the vegetables from an array of wildlife plus two more creatures that I don’t have to contend with–deer and the neighbors’ chickens. The deer require an eight-foot fence topped with barbed wire.
looking down the tunnel
She also showed me details about the cold frame beds, with plastic gallons of water in each one, taking in the heat of the sun during the day and then warming the bed during the night. A thermometer helps her regulate the temperature when the sun can make it too hot in there.
Her setup felt so orderly that the next day I bought some boards and squared off my s-curved bed into a nice neat rectangle. The current bed had worked fine for the summer, but when I wanted a cold frame, that nice organic shape became too much of a challenge. Now, when I trim the rest of the garden for the winter I’ll have a lot of material for filling in the bed.
I’m pretty sure I’ve reinvented the wheel, so to speak. The hoops were too long and loopy so when I started to take them down in order to cut them, I wondered if they’d be a less loopy height by going over to the third rebar over. Then I saw I could weave them all together that way. They gave each other more support and wouldn’t flop over. The strength of triangles!
rolling up the side using a board
The last cold frame trick she showed me was using a long board to roll up the extra plastic on each side, allowing us to tuck the plastic into the frame to keep it from blowing off, making the bed nice and cozy.
Although I gardened for years, growing mostly flowers and herbs, I rarely grew edibles. Now, I have a mounting interest in growing food and edible landscaping. But writing about this isn’t only about producing food. I’m describing a way to have enjoyment, learn something from a friend, spend time together, connect with the earth, and experiment (also known as play).
Any play experience you’d like to share?
my finished cold frame
PRACTICE. Ask a friend to share a hobby or interest. Go play!
Contact. If you’ve forgotten how to play, let me brain storm with you to find small ways to bring playfulness back into your life. It will grow from there.