Follow Building the FarmTek Cold Frame Part 1 to read the first installment of this excellent adventure.
We had no problem sliding the cold frame’s roofing material into the H-channels, but it was pretty much impossible for us move that entire piece to the pipe frame, and get it attached without having the 4 foot piece and 8 foot piece at least partially separate. We tried a few different tacks, and then it hit me. Why not run some screws through the H-channel to attach it to the two corrugated plastic pieces. I wish I had thought of that earlier, it would have saved us about an hour of trial and error. Splicing is only required on FarmTek Flip-Top cold frames longer than 8 feet.
With the two pieces of cold frame cover firmly connected, the three of us easily positioned the material on the hoop frame. Kate and Becca held it in place while I attached the corrugated plastic to the hoop frame with TekScrews and washers. This process took about 40 minutes, and I would gladly assemble another 12-foot FarmTek cold frame now that I know how to get the cover splice to survive installation. For a brief moment, I was kicking myself for going with the 12-footer instead of the 8-footer.
The final steps included attaching 2 metal brackets to the rear of the base frame to lock the frame’s “hinge” in place and installing the two support legs on the front of the pipe frame. The finishing touch came in the form of attaching two woven straps to the ends of the pipe frame and the base frame … to keep the cover from tipping all the way back.
Kate and I really like the FarmTek Flip-Top cold frame and are considering the addition of another smaller frame for the herb garden.
Now all we need is for this unseemly arctic blast to head back north so we can begin experimenting with our new FarmTek cold frame. Stay tuned.
Hank Will raises hair sheep, heritage cattle and many varieties of open-pollinated corn with his wife, Joanna, on their rural Osage County, Kansas farm. His home life is a perfect complement to his professional life as an editor at large at GRIT and MOTHER EARTH NEWS magazines.
