Coldframe

I did it! I built myself a coldframe! You have no idea how thrilled I'm feeling right now.

I wasn't sure I could actually do it. I'm not very handy. When we moved into our house, we had to fix a few things. I patched some holes in the wall and put some drywall up where there was nothing (floor to ceiling) and it wasn't a very good job. A year later a carpenter came to do some repairs for us and he noticed my patching job and remarked how terrible it was, said "somebody didn't know what they were doing." Yep. Me. I was too embarrassed to admit it was my work.

Anyhow, I didn't really know what I was doing here, either, but figured I'd try. I had plenty of scrap wood, an old window, a hammer and a wood saw. A ruler and pencil. I bought some nails. That's it.

First I cut the wood into pieces to make the sides.

The hardest part was cutting the slope for the top short sides, so that the glass would sit at an angle. Then some little pieces to go inside in the corners to hold it together vertically, and a backstop.

Took it outside (while the baby had a fortuitous long nap) and nailed it all together.

Put the glass on top. Voila! A coldframe!

The little nails in front sticking up hold the glass from sliding down when it's closed, and the backstop holds it in place when it's propped open.

And now my first group of little seedlings has a comfy home!

It's not perfect. My edges are not sawn even (I never could slice bread evenly, either) my corners aren't quite square, there are splinters. I measured a bit wrong so it's about an inch wider and a half inch narrower than I'd like. But surprisingly, there aren't any big gaps, and it all held together. Would be better with screws, but I'm scared of power tools. I plan to paint at least the inside white, so it reflects more light.

I'm already thinking of making another one, since I have another old window in the shed. I want to make it with a deeper slope, though, so can fit more tall seedlings... And now I don't have to haul and restack bricks when I want to move it. What a relief.