Very small mini solar greenhouse.

[Bobberman]

A solar greenhouse can be made with almost any kind of closure that lets sunlight in at least the south side of the container. Suggestions on containers especially a insulated one.. Even a raised bed that has a extended top for winter and a double clear cover like a glass with a second or even a third cover will make a nice solar greenhouse with water containers inside. a dozen gallon milk containers inside the cold frame will work.

A even better solar type greenhouse could contain a light bulb that would be connected to a thermostat that kicks on only when temp approaches 32 degrees. Lettuce would grow all winter even in a 16 square foot solar greenhouse.! Put those saved flowers in a cold frame to keep all winter! Tripple covers really work great! Lets hear some suggestions on enclosures like evena 50 gallon drum set on its side?

[tomc]

If you have a cellar, and cellar windows, the next cold frame should have the house as its back and a cellar window as its access when things are snowy. It could also be a source for supplimental heat.

i found a min-max themometer priceless for keeping track of how hot my cold frame becomes (and its need for venting).

[RainBird23]

Thank you both! I'm just starting out with containers and was hoping to keep my catnip, thyme and stonecrop alive over the winter. Adding in some outdoor greens would be great, too. After an ill-fated window greenhouse experiment threatened to dump fertilizer water into my husband's computer, we are looking at outside the house solutions. I like the idea of having a light source and a thermostat in a small box; we do have electric on our patio and have used all-weather cord on it before. I'm thinking maybe those heat tapes they sell for outside pipes might work also. Off to spend a chilly evening with Google, seed catalogs and hot chocolate.