Shed of the week - the asbo shed

That's "asbo" as in short for asbestos, not anti-social behaviour order. Andrew Gordon is the unlucky keeper of this particular shed. He's convinced it is held together with the rather unpleasant substance.

"Even the floor is covered in a thick layer of cement dust and what looks like broken bits of asbestos," he writes in a recent email to this blog. Eugh ...

"And we thought allotments were healthy places," he concludes.

Indeed. Well, it's quite often not the case. Asbestos was flytipped a while back on my site, and older sheds are often home to elderly cans of all kinds of dodgy, now-banned chemicals, doors covered in lead paint and the like. And soil can be contaminated with bits of plastic, glass and much worse (hence: always wear thick gloves when clearing a new plot).

On a brighter note, the greenery on top of this shed softens the industrial look. For aesthetics, this shed gets a healthy six out of 10. For health and safety, zero.

If you want to submit your shed to shed of the week, drop me an email. I'll feature the best ones on the blog, and my absolute favourite will get a copy of my book on allotments.

Meanwhile: an article from the Guardian newspaper on the Australian men's shed movement.

Comments

[Karen]

Can I enter my gazebo into Shed of the Week?

[Jane Perrone]

Hmm... good question Karen, I'd say it depends on what you use it for. If it's closer to a summer house than a shed, I'd say no ... but if you use it for tool storage, potting etc, than go ahead!

[Bare Bones Gardener]

Thanks, being an aussie male I enjoyed that shed story...

[Matron]

I really like that shed! it reminds me of stories like The Secret Garden, and The lost Gardens of Heligan. That looks like jasmine over the top, so it probably smells wonderful too!

[Woody Wilbury]

Jasmine my foot; that's Russian Vine and it's eating the shed