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Sunday, January 11, 2009

The Garden Shed

Shed

Usually by the end of the active garden season my garden shed is so packed and unorganized that I struggle to move in it, much less find what I'm looking for. So I took some time on Saturday to clean and organize it. This is a chore I try to accomplish every winter while the lawn and most things in the garden are dormant. Doing this once a year helps to keep the clutter from building up to bad and it allows me the opportunity to inventory what I may need for the upcoming garden season (like fertilizers, sprays, storage items, etc, etc...).

The easiest way for me is to take on this task is to remove a majority of the stuff out of the shed so I can clean the shelves, sweep the floor, and throw out what I don't need. Then everything can go back neatly in its proper place.

Cleaning2

Cleaning1

Notice my 4 year old daughter in the background above - she started out helping but quickly lost focus and began playing with our dog Macy. Oh well, what's a dad to do? At least she was out there keeping me company.

pot

Above is a a broken terra cotta pot. Normally I would throw something like this away but thought it would make a nice home for a toad in the garden. Attracting frogs in the garden can be very beneficial. Like earthworms, frogs in the garden normally indicate a healthy ecosystem.

oil1

I place citronella oil and candles in several places throughout the shed. This deters bugs and spiders that may otherwise inhibit the shed. Not to say I wont have bugs in the shed, but this will definitely help keep their numbers down. I don't remember where I heard this tip but it really works.

candle

Below is a handy bracket set I mounted for storing my wheelbarrow off the floor.

bracket

...and below is the wheelbarrow sitting nicely in an upright position off the shed floor. This provides much needed extra floor space.

Wheelbarrow

Now that its finally picked up and organized, I'll be better prepared to take on the upcoming garden season. At least in the beginning...

finished

5 comments:

Kim said...

I love your shed. Very creative idea of the pot.

I am laughing about your daughter. Kids seem to lose interest rather quickly and go onto for enjoyable tasks like playing with the dog.

Anonymous said...

I have a few pots that might make better toad houses than planters... thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

Wow! I am green with envy. Our garage (which is too stuffed with garden supplies to house a car) is so messy right now that the door barely opens. Did you make the wheelbarrow rack or purchase it? That would really save us some room.

Alan Pulley said...

Hey Willi,

Glad you stopped by. I purchased the wheelbarrow rack at Lowes in the garage shelving area. Yeah, it’s really cool! Once mounted, you just roll the wheelbarrow up to the bottom bracket and tip it forward until it rest on it; then just tip the wheelbarrow up to the upper bracket. The upper bracket swings down and rest on the outside lip of the wheelbarrow holding it in place.
Now, I expect a future post on your blog about your garage cleaning experience soon! LOL!

The Zen Birdfeeder said...

What a perfect little toad house! It's so interesting to see a landscape without snow in January. Definitely not the case here!