Читать книгу The Organic Garden - Allan Shepherd - Страница 54

A shed need not be a permanent space. There are some very fine temporary structures that can serve the same purpose: yurts, domes, tipis and benders (a very cheap structure made from cut hazel rods and a tarpaulin cover) being just four examples. A bender is the easiest to make, but not necessarily that pretty if you’re using an old tarp. You’ll need some flexible pieces of hazel, 21/2 metres or longer. These are pushed 30cm into the ground, bent in towards each other and tied together to form a frame. More pieces of hazel are then placed across the bent poles around the outside of the structure to support it – cross bracing. Waxed cotton tarps are quite ugly but readily available and cheap from army surplus stores. The look of them can be improved using paints. Alternatively, order a specially cut piece of fabric from a nomadic tent supplier – the sort of material that would cover a tipi or a yurt. DIY domes can be made from recycled broom handles or cut hazel, assembled in a geodesic shape. A factsheet explaining how to make one is available from CAT, either as a download or paper copy. Also available from CAT are factsheets explaining how to make tipis and yurts. One of my favourite shed books is Shelters, Shacks and Shanties by DC Beard. Written in 1914, it is a classic of backwoodsman self-sufficiency, full of ideas for easy temporary structures the like of which you would find in some long-forgotten US frontier town or forest in the Mid-West. It’s perfect for some unusual back garden projects, particularly for children in need of a den.