Читать книгу The Allotment Book - Andi Clevely - Страница 37

You can adapt or equip the outside of your shed for a number of working purposes or use it to extend your growing space in various ways. Furnishing the shed depends on its proposed use and the amount of room inside. You could simply stack and store materials in a small building, but tools and equipment soon accumulate and it will be much easier to find what you want with a little organization.

▸ Walls can be used to extend the potential storage space if you construct shelves for small tools, gloves, seeds and tins. Attach these to the main framework (not the boarding) with brackets. Screw an old bookcase or wooden frame to the wall for storing pots and seed trays out of the way. You might also find a small cupboard, tool box or old chest of drawers useful, but make sure it is securely fastened to the shed frame or floor to prevent easy removal by thieves.

▸ Suspend gardening tools from hooks or clips on the wall or roof braces to free floor space for larger items like rolls of netting, a wheelbarrow, boxes of stored root crops. Hang up empty paint tins or small buckets to hold string, cloths, gloves, plant labels and hand tools, and have a large hook or bracket for coiled hoses. A rack or simple timber hangers attached to roof members will keep canes and poles tidy and off the floor.

▸ A bulldog clip on the back of the door gives instant access to gloves. A nail keeps keys in a safe place.

▸ Old mats, a chair, tea-making facilities, even a small camp stove can help transform a functional shed into a welcoming haven where you can rest, admire or plan your work or shelter from the rain. (Make sure you check with your site manager what the regulations are concerning the use of flammable equipment.)

▴ Window boxes (whether your shed has windows or not) can accommodate flowering plants and crops like herbs, trailing tomatoes or leaf salads at a convenient height. Attach trellis to the walls for growing sweet peas, climbing annual crops or fruit such as trained figs, grapes, cordon apples and pears, or thornless brambles.

▸ Use overhanging eaves to support strings for climbing crops like runner beans and outdoor cucumbers, growing in the ground or in troughs of compost.

▸ Build a bench for sitting in the sun, with useful storage space beneath it.

▸ Attach a collapsible table-top or work surface to the outside for potting and sowing activities, especially if space is restricted inside the shed. You might want an old table or home-made work surface within for various jobs and as extra storage. If you make your own, consider a drop-down top hinged to the inside wall, supported by folding brackets.