Cold Frame!

Last night, I'm proud to say, I finished my cold frame. Well, almost. It still needs some foam around the top of the frame part so that way the seal is good when the door is closed.

But, this morning when I checked the closed frame, there was condensation on the inside of the glass! Condensation = heat (like on your bathroom mirror after you take a shower). This is great! Condensation even without a solid seal!

So here are the photos. I put in the tomato seedlings this morning. More on that a bit further down.

I used a really solid, double-paned, butt-heavy glass door. The heaviness helps the frame seal well, though I loathe the heaviness a bit. But, especially once I get the foam on there (tonight!), the seal will be excellent for keeping warmth in at night.


I used cedar fenceboards (again) and I stuffed plastic bags between them so that way the front and back were insulated well. I double-layered the wood for the two sides.


I'm going to leave the handle on the door. It makes it easy to lift, and it looks pretty nifty. I may paint the door... I haven't decided yet. Right now it's black. That's a nice color, but all the dust shows so easily. And I need to also remove the metal scraper at the bottom. It's just held on by screws, so that should be easy.
And here are the tomato seedlings, added to the frame this morning! I put netting over the top of the frame to keep out the stupid neighborhood/feral cats.

The second tray of seedlings. I'm hoping that with the direct sunlight (rather than the weak fluorescent bulbs) they will grow like weeds. Everything else in the garden is growing fast, and I need my tomatoes to hop to it!
I only propped the frame open a bit. It's supposed to get warmish today (68 degrees), but these seedlings are used to a warm laundry room. This will keep it non-roasting, but a little warmer than if the frame was wide open.

So, paint or no paint? Just the door? Or the sides too? Thoughts??