DIY Network

Building a Hot Frame Building a Hot Frame From "Fresh from the Garden" episode DFFG-120

Hot frame

A hot frame is similar to a cold frame -- the difference is that a hot frame has a heat source to get young vegetables started quickly. The extra warmth keeps the plants from freezing at night until the danger of frost has passed. Here, learn how to create and set up a hot frame of your own....

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	First dig a rectangular pit a foot deep to hold the fresh manure.
	Next, lay bales of straw around the perimeter.
	Fresh manure adds the heat to a hot frame.
	Once the seedlings are in place, add the recycled door to the top.

• For this project, you'll need an old door or window. You can buy one at a recycled materials lot for a few dollars. You'll also need 6 bales of straw, 10 bags of topsoil, fresh manure and some starter seedlings. The only tool you’ll need is a shovel.

• The first step in this project is to dig a rectangular pit a foot deep to hold the fresh manure. You want to get it below ground level to help hold in the heat and to make it lower than the planting level of the seedlings. If you plant the seedlings right in manure they would burn up from the heat and from an overdose of nutrients. By digging a pit, the plants will have a buffer between their roots and the manure. Make the outside diameter of the pit a foot narrower than the glass door.

• The next step is to lay the bales of straw around the perimeter. The bales will sit at ground level, not in the pit itself. Butt them together so they fit tightly, with no gaps in between. The hay bales become the insulated wall of your hot frame.

• To make the hot frame work, you need fresh manure. Go to a local stable to harvest this heat source.

• Once you have your fresh manure, fill the pit you dug with 6 inches of it. Next, tamp it down lightly with your shovel. Then moisten the manure to help build up heat. Then add a 6-inch layer of topsoil, on top of the manure, to make a bed for your new seedlings. The topsoil will come up to the bottom of hay bales you stacked around the pit. Now you're ready to add your plants.

• Once the seedlings are in place, add the recycled door to the top. The door should rest on the hay bales with the weight distributed evenly across all of them. The glass will let light in. The ground, hay bales and manure will all work together to warm-up the inside of the box.