My Garden Shed Use Plan

It’s been another long break between postings here on the Growing The Home Garden Shed page.  If you follow me on Facebook or read my main gardening blog you know how busy I’ve been with starting my own nursery.  It’s been a challenge and even though I started off with the attitude that I should count a single customer as a success I’m constantly dreaming of “what if”s.  The good thing about dreaming is that it inspires you into action.  But what good is action without a plan?  My overall plan has several dimensions to it one of which is the shed itself.  I named my nursery Blue Shed Gardens after the shed itself that has become a focal point in our backyard.  My dad and I built it together and as it turned out to be it was one of the last projects we worked on together.  He passed away nearly a year ago due to a metastasized form of cancer. I’m grateful I got to spend the last few years of his life living nearby and working on projects like the garden shed.  I thought naming my nursery after the project we built together was a fitting tribute.

The garden shed isn’t just going to be for a name, its functional too.  During the winter it will shelter any slightly tender plants, giving them at least a 10 degree buffer between the outdoor temperatures and the in side the shed ones.  It may not sound like much but ten degrees can be the difference between a whole hardiness zone on the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map.

My other plan is to use the shed as a plant propagation house!  I have a couple issues to solve before I can use the shed as a propagation house.  My main concern is bringing down the temperature inside.  I need to cover some windows with a shade cloth of some kind to prevent the skylight from letting in too much sunshine.  I also need a way to circulate the air from the outside to the inside and back out again.  That could be down with a fan however fans require electricity and there isn’t any inside the shed! I’ve considered adding solar panels (aff. link to FarmTek) to the shed to provide lighting and electricity for other uses but haven’t gotten around to it yet!

For propagating plants I’m constructing a mist system that will function on a set of timers to take the human error part out of the equation.  In general these systems require electricity to operate the solenoid valve so I’m substituting battery powered timers hooked to the house faucet for now until I can do better.

That’s the plan at the moment for the shed. I have some work to do!