Tidy shed, tidy mind

My poor little purple potting shed hasn’t had much use this Summer and I long for those days when I could potter about the allotment and head inside to pop the kettle on where I would sit and enjoy the peaceful view. Alas life has just been too hectic and the shed too full… There’s a mass of netting scrunched in the corner, tunnels leaning against the side, old wellies, a bowl of grit, border edging, pots of paint and the spiders have moved in! What it needs is a good clear out on a sunny day where I can get everything out, clean it and then put it all back neatly. Of course when this will happen is another question, it’s been a tad miserable weather wise and the next two weekends we will be selling at the last garden shows of the year. So for now I pottered about tidying the old vintage cabinet just to make things look a little tidier…

The table top was covered in bits and bobs to the extent that I couldn’t actually see the surface! It didn’t take long to tidy up the cupboards and if I’m honest I actually had fun, I love tidying. I arranged all the spare terracotta pots and pegs on the top row, the books and flower bulbs went on the shelf underneath with a few of my little Britains farm animal toys (I just can’t resist them!) All my tea making supplies plus cups for visitors went on another shelf and then my seed box, radio and bowls of dried seed were stored at the back of the work surface. I gave it a quick brush down and ta-dah… the cabinet was tidy! Inside the bottom cupboard on one shelf are my cooking pots, weighing scales and plates which I’m actually thinking of getting rid of… I don’t cook up the allotment anymore so therefore they are taking up valuable space in the shed and I’m thinking my brassica netting could probably be folded up better and stored there instead… On the other shelf lies all my boxes of fertilisers and other gardening bits and bobs. You’d be surprised how much stuff this old cabinet holds!

I’m planning on extending one side of the roof when I attach the galvanised sheeting, that way the water can simply run off the roof straight into the water tank and there will be space on the side of the shed to hang the net tunnels outside whilst still being protected by the elements. That will free up a lot of space inside the shed and I’m hoping to build a wooden herb drying rack so I can dry my own flowers and herbs to make things such as tea, cleaning and beauty products with. The brassica netting which is currently scrunched up in the corner will be stored somewhere neatly (preferably in the cabinet!) and then I’ll actually be able to put my chair back into that corner and relax. The old red wellies which leak will be made into planters and I have yet to think of a storage idea for the bowl of grit… and then that just leaves the spiders which I’m a little scared about. I’m going to order a spider catcher so I can remove them and the webs safely, if I’m brave enough that is!

After tidying the cabinet and making plans to tidy the rest I pushed the netting back to make room for my chair and sat there with a cup of tea. It was heaven just sitting there, looking out the doorway onto my little patch of land and listening to the birds singing. However, what I was really thinking was that it would be nice to have a bigger shed, just imagine that!