My ambitions run more towards "Maybe I could build a self-regulating hoop tunnel".
Not so much in the direction of "I wonder how bad my yard could smell before I choked or got thrown out of the park?"
I bet you're right and they DID have less wussy noses back then.
Or they held their breath, lifted the cover, did their work, closed the lid, and THEN started breathing again.
To do much good, the heat would have had to to perk through the soil faster than it leaked out of the cold frame.
