here's the pic

That's really nice!

That really nice & nice beds too.
You double dug with a tiller.
I have a new plot that I turned with a tiller.
I am going to compost the whole bed, about 12'X 12', then tillit in. Remove loose soil from the 20 inches path, down to solid ground & put it on the 36" X 12' beds. I get about 10 to 12 inches of loose soil that way.

Yes, double dug. although with a small electric tiller.
I recently read deep tilling could provide excellent soil for root expansion, I was thinking about this anyway, however after reading the article, I was convinced.
When I did this I went through some swiss chard, I should have taken pics of it.
I couldn't believe how far down the roots of swiss chard went.
I'm hoping my new hot/cold frame will enjoy the fine soil.
I am considering raising the level inside also about 6 more inches, may as well do it while at this stage.

Finished this frame on Dec 5 2012.
I have a 10 gal container with kohlrabi plants growing.Planted in August, will try to see how they do during winter.
I have some heat trace that I may use to warm the pot, that may be an interesting experiment
Not sure if the plastic will allow enough light to penetrate the frame, if not I'll need to improvise.
I'm also certain the sun's rays will deteriorate the plastic covers.
All in all this has been a fun project, I'll be able to remove the covers completely during the summer.
I will also be able to make some diffusion covers for the extreme hot sun.

here' finished frame

Dec 5
Pot of kohlrabi in the corner, planted in Aug.
Soil temp in pot 60 deg
Soil temp in frame 5 inches deep 48 deg

Close up of kohlrabi plants, I was going to toss these
2 months ago, I just couldnt

Checked temps on this frame this morning, 28 deg, been in the single digits this week, kohlrabi looks sick, however I would too if I stood out there all day.
Maybe they'll survive. wife left out some vine plants in her hanging baskets, they looked great a couple weeks ago, their in there also

@japus
Looks good. I'd like to do something similar to that this year
ill check ya posted. With a little added heat to something a little bigger. With possibly Plexiglas or something that lets enough sun thru....might work extremely well. Cool idea

@japus
Looks good. I'd like to do something similar to that this year
ill check ya posted. With a little added heat to something a little bigger. With possibly Plexiglas or something that lets enough sun thru....might work extremely well. Cool idea

I was planning on using plexiglass also, however I may go with greenhouse 9 ml plastic..glass is out of the question because of possible shattering.
I may enclose another entire bed, make the top removable and use it normally in the nice weather

Now you got my thinking. Im not sure if I should turn into A complete greenhouse or just make nice seperate small ones the slide over specific boxes...I plan to work on that over this season. I will keep you posted. Please do the sane as well. Here's my email mdecarlo37@gmail.com

my dad does construction and got a free sliding glass door from a remodel. Thought it'd make a great top for a cold box. His plants did terribly! Turns out it was "Low-E" glass made with a special coating that blocked the very parts of sunlight the plants need. I'm all for reusing\repurposing, but be aware that kind of thing is out there.

Kranberriz6
Your right on with the glass.
Not a good idea in any case, I was going to use storm windows/doors, etc, however I thought if the glass ever does break it would leave one heck of a mess that may never be able clean it up. All that glass mixed in with dirt..??? I don't want it..

we've got all our, 6 of new gardens now built, just had 4 days of ex-cyclone low pressure system go by and delivered 1/2 a meter of rain, good stuff new beds and all planting now fully watered, our first rain since end of july 2012.

len

Here is a link that might be useful: lens garden page

Hey Len
That's one nice looking raised bed, never need to worry about it rotting away