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An imaginative method of providing warmth for tender plants, without the necessity for any elaborate electric heating cables, is to make a 'hotbed', which uses fresh horse dung to warm plant roots' When the manure rots down it gives off heat that is then trapped by the overhead frame. In the nineteenth century, few large gardens would have been without a hotbed, which enabled the gardener to cultivate exotic fruit and vegetables which might otherwise not have survived one winter, let alone provided a crop. To create your own hotbed: Dig out a shallow pit in the ground then heap a large amount of fresh manure into it and leave it for on five days to permit heat to build up. You may have to turn the pile and sprinkle it with water if the weather is hot - if it dries out, the decomposition will slow down. The pile shouldn't be too small or it will never be able to build up adequate heat - four wheel-barrow loads should be adequate to make a good-sized pile. After about five days, when it ought to be really warm, flatten it as much as possible and cover it with a layer of soil to a minimum depth of 7.5cm.This will ensure an even and regular rate of decay, and corresponding heat output
Place a frame over the loam topped manure to preserve the warmth. The frame should have a lid which can be opened if the temperature rises too high. Plants can be grown soil loam, while seeds should be sown in trays and placed on top.
Raised beds can act as a hot bed as they warm up in the spring. Raised beds can be any height or length but need to be suitably narrow so that the plants may be easily reached and tended to without the need to walk over the soil. This means there isn't any danger of compaction and the soil structure shouldn't be damaged. Equally as there isn't a need to leave room for access between rows, your crops may be planted closer than normal, increasing yield while reducing weed growth. Beds 1.3m in width are perfect. To be successful the beds need to be constructed correctly. Edging should be tough enough to hold back the weight of your earth in the beds, and the height must allow for an increase in the level of the soil as you add mulch and manure every year. Among the simplest of edging constructions are lengths of plank held in place by timber pegs hammered into the ground, or else you can construct longer lasting beds with bricks and mortar. To raise the soil level, firstly skim the topsoil from the adjacent paths and place it in the beds, after that work large amounts of organic matter into the soil - about 6kg per square metre will really open up the structure. lf the beds are prepared properly they should need little more than light hoeing and a sprinkle of fertilizer for several years.