The Hotbed Greenhouse is WORKING

I started piling the hotbed a week and a half ago. Since then the heat from the bacterial action has kept the inside airspace a very hospitable 55-85 degrees F. Radishes are up an inch and the peas have sprouted but not emerged yet (I got impatient and dug around a bit). The soil for the cardboard boxes has run between $2.50 and $6.00 each. If money were no object purchasing enough soil to put 8 inches depth across the bed would be nice, but the bed continues to compress and sink---so I would probably be better off to do exactly what I am doing now. The reasoning behind planting in boxes is that if the bed gets too hot I can take the boxes out and place them on top of the bed rather than sunk in the corners like they are now. Eventually the boxes themselves will disintegrate and become part of the future compost themselves. The air no longer reeks of ammonia nor is there any steam visibly rising. Last night the temps were in the 20's but at 8 before going to bed the air in the greenhouse was in the mid-fifties.