what if we could transform how we live
so that the way we live
regenerates life?
to do that
we need to take steps that are so tiny
as to be irresistibly easy
continuous, incremental, iterative, improvements
compound into great change.
i'm experimenting with what
everyday regenerative action
could look like
throughout the seasons.
i'm elisa rathje
at appleturnover
and this
is the journal
of small work*.
how can we adapt to an uncertain future
and also make a life that we want to live?
the coldframe can illustrate how this could work.
the coldframe
is one of those brilliant solutions for extending the gardening season
that hails from an era
before ubiquitous fossil fuels and plastics
the victorians knew what they were about
when they designed these into kitchen gardens
they regarded season extension
as something of a competitive sport.
using a simple design
of windows angled toward the sun
by a basic hinged box,
the coldframe collects plenty of warm sunlight
for a protected growing season
and even year-round harvests.
this is appropriate technology*:
amenable to upcycling from reclaimed materials
requiring only basic skills to make,
demanding no further energy,
save for the labour of tending to opening and closing it
according to the weather.
the humble coldframe
can go further than one might think.
it can create the conditions for adaptation
in the face of multiple converging crises.
the coldframe embodies simple passive solar design
angled windows facing the sun
allow plenty of light in year round
trapping heat in the thermal mass of the soil and the wood
to warm the plants longer.
if it's cold we keep it closed
if it's warm we open it up.
the coldframe can easily be cracked open
to release excess heat
and then thrown wide open for the warmest part of the year
no fans are necessary,
no electricity needed,
just 'passive solar and active humans'*
*see david holmgren, 'retrosuburbia'
the cold frame aligns well with continuous improvement*
we may not have the resources
or space
or time, for a full greenhouse or solarium
but we can take this small step into passive solar
and it opens up possibilities for what we can grow in protected conditions
perhaps even year-round.
in colder climates
one can effectively shift a couple of zones south
by putting the cold frame inside a greenhouse
doubling the layers of protection.
the pattern* of the cold frame repeats
from the cloche, to the solarium, to the greenhouse, to the high tunnel.
passive solar is appropriate technology for an energy descent future.
the coldframe helps us adapt to climate shocks:
moderating the effects of severe or unpredictable weather
its traditional design,
concerned with season extension
translates well to climate resilience.
reducing the freezing in the shoulder seasons
allowing for sowing earlier in the spring
and growing later into the autumn
neither a good foot of snow
nor pelting rain storms
high winds nor hard freeze
can trouble the hardy little plants
tucked snuggly into their coldframe
the coldframe is more than sufficient for starting many seeds
and for hardening off seedlings that are heading out into the garden
exposing their leaves to sun little by little
the same way we build up tolerance in our skin.
the coldframe can shift us toward a 'four season garden'*.
*eliot coleman. see also niki jabbour
we particularly like to grow greens in our coldframe,
in the cool season.
rather than cut the whole plant we pluck outer leaves
which the plant replaces rapidly till late autumn's pause,
when the frame is in effect
a living refrigerator
leaves less growing than stored.
after a freeze we wait till they thaw to harvest
after snow we brush the panes clear.
when the light returns in middle winter
the plants take off growing madly
for the four season garden we favour hearty winter varieties
that don't mind the cold
then shift to summer loving plants that like the heat.
the greens we grow in our coldframe
are a great pleasure.
the sort of delicate vegetable for which one pays far too much
tends to forget in its brief window
to find languishing, neglected, obscured by jars in the back of the fridge.
invariably, they're sold with more plastic than vegetable
a nauseating reality as we coat our planet with plastics,
taxied in refrigerated trucks and planes
just so we can eat some leaves.
we vastly prefer to cut rinse and eat in one swift motion.
the coldframe can foster increased health
providing absolutely fresh food
that's nutrient dense and diverse
avoiding pesticides and herbicides
and the resulting issues for soil and water
by simply providing our food directly from seed to plate
where we live.
we like that the cold frame can be simply constructed
using reclaimed materials
that don't cause more of the same problems
we seek to mitigate.
in a world where single glazing
needs to be replaced with double,
harvesting windows will be doubly useful.
we can make a cold frame with some basic tools
and simple materials.
whatcha got, robin?
whatcha doing chicken?
the cold frame is a natural when it comes to adaptation.
its humble yet effective nature
can carry us into an era
of resilience and sustainability.
growing our own
is an act of relocalisation.
as small work goes,
creating a tool for relocalising food-growing
is surprisingly impactful.
it sets us off toward a future we could thrive in.
one where the fragility of complex and profit-driven systems
can be sidestepped for resilient local solutions
that produce what grows well here;
saving the seeds adapted best to this place;
feeding us a great variety of flavorful produce
grown with care;
reducing food waste by its very directness.
the simplicity of the coldframe
could easily be 'distributive':
lots of coldframes in lots of gardens,
smallholdings,
urban farms,
providing for people immediately in their proximity:
part of a 'small farm future'*.
*see chris smaje, 'a small farm future'
relocalising can look like making what we need with what we've got.
we can draw on simple old solutions like the coldframe
to help us through.
tools like this help us begin to bring food production home
to creatively respond to food insecurity
the stuttering of long fragile and often unjust
and emission-heavy supply chains
and the soil, water and toxin crises
in our agriculture.
having the means to grow more of what we eat
right where we live
can contribute
to transitioning away from fossil fuel dependence
and toward local year-round food resilience.
community cold frames
and what could flow from them
hold tremendous possibility
in their very simplicity.
rooftop coldframes
verge coldframes
allotment coldframes
courtyard coldframes
vacant-lot coldframes
school and community centre and
neighborhood coldframes.