How to Build a Winter Garden With a Cold Frame Hoop

Start the winter garden in fall -- two to three weeks before last frost -- to utilize soft, easily dug soil to grow vegetables into early winter. This timing avoids the prospect of particularly harsh winter storms.

Choose a site for the cold frame where vegetables get four to six hours of winter sun every day and that offers quick drainage. Put the cold frame on the south side of a building for protection from harsh winter winds and driving rain. The proximity of a building also keeps soil warmer into winter. Winter vegetables grow with less light and warmth than summertime vegetables but still benefit from some protection.

Amend the natural soil if you have a bottomless cold frame. Measure out a site large enough to accommodate the frame and dig into the top 6 to 10 inches of soil. Remove rocks and weeds and turn 4 to 5 inches of organic compost into the tilled soil. Add 5-10-5, 10-10-10 or 12-12-12 fertilizer for additional nutrition. Place the cold frame over the amended site.

If you have a cold frame with an intact base, mix quick-draining garden loam and organic compost in equal parts. Fill the cold frame with 10 inches of this soil mixture and add fertilizer for growing.

Plant winter vegetables such as rutabagas, turnips, lettuce, spinach, peas, broccoli, cauliflower, radishes, carrots and Brussels sprouts. These vegetables require less light and heat than more sensitive vegetables.

Water the cold frame vegetables with two inches of water. Keep the cold frame open until the first frost warning of the season.