Great pic! I built my boxes last fall and haven't planted them yet, but I replaced my windows this fall/winter as well, and took every 4x window I tore out and framed them in 2x2s. Now I can place them on the frame of my raised beds to create a sun box effect. The windows still open and I have the screens for them, so I can adjust for air flow and shade. Unfortunately, they're not storm windows as the book suggests, but in Seattle, I don't expect I need tons of insulation.

I haven't used them yet, but I expect to do so. If I need height I can get some more 2x6s and add them to the 2x2s.

Sinfonian

Thanks sinfonian! I've made 6 frame pieces to date, so I can do 3 double-staked boxes now or a 3-stack, 2-stack and single stack. I actually pulled off the black plastic angles at the corners and stapled them inside the frames. I should have realized sooner that they would make contact on each side if they were inserted inside the frames instead of outside. I'll have to take a new picture of the finished products. It definitely was a great deal of work using the recycled lumber (from a church staircase) because of all the rusty and very stuck nails. Muscles in my legs and arms are quite sore from the pulling, banging, sawing, hammering and contorting. Most of the boards were 2X12"S, so a lot of sawing occurred. I think we may get more servers at work, so that means more foam padding. I think adding some to the inside surfaces will really insulate even better and reflect white light in the inside of the box towards plants. I wonder if foil on the inside would be more beneficial though. I think more white foam would enhance the manufactured look. I'm quote happy with how they turned out. These storm windows from the lady on Freecycle are quite nice. The adjustable windows with screening sounds like a great idea.

I'm anxious to toss something like carrot seeds under one and see what happens this time of year.

I use similar boxes all the time to grow spinach, mache and arugula through winter. In very early spring they're great for salad greens. I made a little video about mine (link below).

The boxes are way more wind-resistant than cloches or tunnels. When it's below 20, I throw an old blanket over them overnight.

Barbara

Here is a link that might be useful: Grow Greens in Winter in a Box

Barbara, Nice video. I like the fact that you recycled a shower door too. On sunny days here in Alabama, even during Jan., the temp. in my plastic covered box gets to 90 degrees. Do you have that problem? Or do you open it up a little if the temp. gets warm?

I haven't done this yet but I am interested. In zone 4 how soon would I be able to install and plant. I already have raised beds. I imagine I might get an early start on lettuce, spinach and radishes but how soon. I'd appreciate if anyone has any ideas, this is a timely thread. Right now my raised beds are covered by a thick layer of snow.

It's new to me also pattypattwo! It was somewhere around 30 outside today and the ground was frozen hard. I insulated the inside of my frames with more foam and set 3 of them out. I want to see if they get the soil warming up. In the meantime I have many varieties of tomatoes and other plants growing from seed in the house. I planted some lettuce the other day and maybe in a month I will transplant them into the boxes outside as well as plant some carrots and turnips with them.

So zone 6 you are looking at planting in one month outside. That's great. Have you done this before?

Not exactly. Last year I started seedlings at around the same time, but only had a sunny window sill and produced very leggy plants (they did fine after 2 weeks of fighting outside).
They looked like this on April 10, 2006

This year I have the sun boxes I just created, so I think I will have an earlier harvest (hope so anyway). Last year my plants went outside on May 10th, I believe. I am glad I waited because around April 6th we had a bad cold snap and if I had put these plants outside, they'd of all died. This year the sun boxes will serve as extra insurance and I think I can put this year's plants out at the beginning of April.

So far they look like this on January 27, 2008:
{{gwi:213852}}

This is what happened on April 6th 2007:

This is what it looked like on March 25th 2007:

Needless to say, you cannot trust the weather in Central Kentucky.

bencjedi, thanks for the pictures. I have flowers under lights but no vegetables yet. Zone 4 I have a month before I can start tomato seeds. I may get the glass or make a plastic frame to put over my raised beds see if that will work. That should keep me busy until I can really get in there and work.

I did some 'scaping' of the area close to the house today. I had planted asparagus there a year ago and decided it needed to be up higher and fashioned them in a double row, so I added a nice heaping mound and relocated them today.

This gave me the opportunity to shift the sun boxes in proper grade, so they tilt to allow more light into the boxes. I think in 2-3 weeks I could start some lettuce seed for my zone. It's a bit of a risk because the last frost date (April 10th-15th) is not exact here, so I hope the sun boxes give the extra protection to make that date less important. I think they are close enough to the house for some extra radiation. I may move the box on the end because I am thinking of moving the chicken wire 'panel' to that area, so as to allow more light penetrating pole beans to work on the garden this year.

On the ventilation question, the top fits so badly at the corners that it always vents. To hold in heat, I cover the closed box with an old blanket if it's going below 20. As a safety precaution against a closed lid on warm days, I place a wood stake across a front corner of the frame's top, then prop the lid open with another stake. If my prop fails, there's still an inch of open vent from the spacer. Very high tech! The great thing about the shower door is its weight, which makes it wind resistant. Still, I only use this thing from Nov to April, then store it through summer.

In addition to my box, I have a couple of small hoop tunnels for kale, arugula, parsley, etc. They are useful, but not as reliable as the box with a heavy lid. Last week it was 5.6 degrees one night, then a few days later a half inch of ice. Under these conditions the tunnels needed checking (it was slippery out there!), but the box ran itself.

Here is a link that might be useful: my website

Great to hear that your box is handling those kind of conditions! I may be needing something like that if this weather we're having is any indication of an extended frost date. Way to go!

Here is a link that might be useful: Sinfonian's gardening adventure, check it out!

The forecast calls for 70 degree weather in Kentucky later today! That's NUTS! We had severe thunderstorms this morning. Two weeks ago we were in the teens! This is February folks! China gets snowed in and we get a bizarre turn of weather in the states. I fear for the last frost date. It'll be like playing Russian roulette. I pray we don't get zapped like we did last year around Easter. I lost my first Japanese Maple because of that unexpected freeze.

A big winter storm is just finishing up in my area. I checked on my sun boxes that contain a recent seeding of Swiss chard and lettuce last weekend while the taller box contains a 6 pack of broccoli and brussel sprout plants (and also some lettuce in 6-packs). It is approximately 40­­°F in them right now with my thin foam insulation. I covered the taller box with some foam padding a board to hold it down. It's 23°F outside now and as you can see the snow had blown into the garden.

March 2nd

March 8th