How to Make a Hot Bed with Manure

Dig the soil in a full sun location 3 to 4 inches deep in an area equal in size to your cold frame’s base. Dig the soil as soon as the ground is workable. Place either a store bought or homemade cold frame directly over the loosened soil facing south ideally, or west.

Work your manure with a pitchfork to mix in possible straw, sawdust or other bedding material that may be present. If the manure appears dry, then add water to moisten it. Fill the cold frame 1 foot deep with manure.

Press the manure down with the shovel blade to pack it along the bottom. Pour garden soil over the manure to 3 to 4 inches deep. Place a soil thermometer into the garden soil so you can read the temperature without moving it. Don’t push the thermometer into the manure.

Shut the cold frame lid. Check the soil temperature each day, waiting for the thermometer to read 80 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit for two to three days in a row, usually after a week.

Plant into the upper garden soil layer any seeds you want to grow in the hot bed, such as lettuce, spinach, onions, radishes and broccoli. Maintain a moist soil around the seeds through frequent watering.

Prop open or take the lid off the hot bed during warm spring days to avoid overheating the seedlings. Replace the lid each night until all threat of frost has passed. Keep the lid off all summer long as the vegetables grow as normal.