Fr. to Bck: Mesculun mix, Black-seeded Simpson, and Green Onions
I just ate my first harvest of baby lettuce and green onions of the season. The cold-frame has worked well at keeping the freezing night-time lows (as low as 9 degrees) away from the plants. On nights below 20, I throw a fleece blanket over the box and turn on the light, on warmer nights, closing the lid suffices. Though, as the sun has crept further north in the sky each day, the abundant side windows of the frame, have turned the cold-frame into a hot-box some afternoons. Fearing bitter lettuce, I've added a shade-screen made from fine window mesh of another old screen door to the front. Reaching 4 feet tall, this screen mutes the sun just enough from 12-4 each afternoon, and keeps the soil surface temperature in a more temperate range. When the sun exposure makes the location of the cold-frame too warm for lettuce, I'll use the box for growing out seeds started in 6-packs for transplanting. I've also just seeded a large conventional bed of lettuce and spinach under the mid-day shade of a large elm tree.
Baby greens make any sandwich greener; condiments from the co-op
Home-grown farmer's brunch of eggs, onion, garlic and mushrooms with a salad on the side
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