Boxspring for Springtime ~ Part 1

When a friend offered my daughter a bed with drawers in the base, we ended up with an extra boxspring mattress. The cloth covering happened to have a tear in it, so I peeked inside. "Looks like an excellent cold frame to me," I thought...

I cut and pulled the fabric off...

...and was surprised to find the flat surface to be nothing more than cardboard. 

Hey, a matching piece of cardboard -- I can sheet mulch with it to keep weeds from growing in the cold frame -- bonus!

Here's how it looked with the fabric cover removed.

I slid it down the driveway today like a sled, and it was a piece of cake. 

Perfect conditions for boxspring relocation! 

The sun even came out briefly for the occasion.

I just happen to have a garden bed that is exactly the same dimensions as a twin bed, with drip irrigation already in place. Serendipity! I had to dig around a bit under the snow to find the boundaries of the bed, where the pine needle growing mulch meets the wood chip walking path.

Here is the naked boxspring in its new home, starting its new life. 

Next comes the makeover, which will involve: 

   - Building a slab-wood base frame
     (to keep the boxspring from rotting so quickly, 

     and to create more vertical growing space)

   - Creating two hinged panels for the roof, 

     with either growing fabric or plastic on frames

   - Adding triangular side pieces for the roof panels to rest on

   - Stapling plastic along the sides

   - Driving rebar into the ground at each corner and securing the frame

      so that it doesn't end up in a tree like last year's mini-greenhouse did...

I'll post again once I've made progress on those steps. This mid-winter project gave me the feeling of gardening again, which was a real pick-me-up on a foggy, snowy day.

Let me know if you have any mid-winter gardening projects going that help bridge the gap between frozen ground and lush green garden beds!