Shed of the week - the seafarer - AND the Horticultural Shed of the Year 2007

These sheds - which are the final entry for shed of the week for 2007 - were spotted on Lindisfarne by Matron of the blog Down on the Allotment. Apparently local fishermen use their old boats as garden sheds.  I've seen smaller boats in people's gardens used as flowerbeds or planters, but nothing on this scale. There's something rather romantic about these structures - the curve of the roof/hull is bordering on the poetic, and probably rather good at handling adverse weather conditions such as storms and heavy rain.

I can imagine pottering around inside with the salty tang of the sea still pervading the atmosphere. But what do you do for light? Are there windows or do you just prop the doors open? Any Lindisfarne readers of this blog who can fill us in? Either way, it's a fine form of reusing boats that have reached the end of their practical life on the ocean.

Now it's time to move on to the other business of the moment - announcing (drumroll ...) the Horticultural Shed of the Year 2007 - my favourite shed from all the entries showcased this year. This was a really hard decision, but I decided in the end to plump for a shed that I felt embodied the true "reduce, reuse, recycle" spirit of the green gardener and allotmenteer, and was also handsome to look at and the product of a craftsman's hand.

That craftsman is Simon Kirby, who writes on the blog The Plot Thickens. You can read the full tale of its construction from pallets and packing crates there, but here's a taster:

In all it’s taken me five weeks to build and has cost me £40. I love it. I wouldn’t have a bought shed if you paid me. It’s very environmentally-friendly because the pallets just go to land-fill and it’s a wonderful bit of self-expression, but not everyone can afford the 100+ hours it took to build so it’s probably not for everyone.

Well done Simon! A copy of my book, The Allotment Keeper's Handbook, will be making its way to him shortly.

And don't worry, shed of the week isn't going away. If you would like to nominate a shed for shed of the week in 2008, just drop me an email with a picture and as much information as possible about the shed - where it is, who it belongs to and what you think of it.

Comments

[Woody Wilbury]

Crikey, a parquet shed. That sets the bar high!

[Jane Perrone]

Indeed it does - but this is shed of the year, after all. I would like to convince Simon to build one for me ...

[Simon Kirby]

Hi Jane

I'm so pleased you chose my shed to be your Shed of the Year. Was it the parquet door that swung it? I'd love to build you one but I'm spending so much time on mine I don't think I can. I'm building the chimney and hearth at the moment to take the pot-bellied stove. As for setting the bar high I'm not sure - but a bar really is an excellent idea.

My best to you and all your readers for 2008, and I hope my shed on your blog will inspire more people out onto their allotments to do their thing.

Simon

[Liz Postlethwaite]

The "boat sheds" on Lindisfarne aren't really garden sheds but more storage sheds for fishing equipment. They're mainly right near the sea and are used to store nets, lobster pots and other fishing paraphanelia and no, they don't have any windows so I'm guessing that they probably are pretty pungent inside - though absolutely lovely to look at! It's pretty wind swept out on Lindisfarne for most of the year so I'm always amazed when I see productive little veg gardens out there. It must be a real challenge to grow anything in those conditions!

[Andrew]

I love these boat sheds. I haven't ever suffered from shed envy before until now!

Happy New Year!

[Drifty Leftwright]

Not only do I like the idea of the shed of the week, I REALLY like this set of sheds! I just saw a picture of some similar sheds somewhere.. but where? It wasn't on the web, I'm sure it was in a book or magazine. Where should I look to see all the sheds at once, or must I read backwards to find them?

Drifty
ps- I'm impressed by the rest of the site too and will keep looking around.