The Crowning Glory of the Garden — Our Garden Shed

"Shed" is hardly the right word for this regal timber-frame structure by Mark Salo of Salo Contracting. It's truly a celebration of wood!

Mark Salo (on roof) and his crew (from left) John Crooks and Mark Hill

Mark, an experienced forester and timber-frame builder, generously donated his time to custom design and build us a structure to store our garden tools and supplies. Of course, we didn't want just any old shed...we wanted our shed to be made from local materials and to have integrity and character. We came to the right man! Check out the beautiful forked cherry post on the front right corner.

 

Timber framing is the most sophisticated form of post and beam construction, one of the oldest building methods in known history. Notice the beautiful and meticulously crafted joints (no nails folks!).

 

Always on the lookout for used/reusable materials, we were able to salvage this metal roofing from the waste-stream of another project and give it a second life. (Thanks Keren and Joe!)

 

Our gardeners checking out the finished shed...

To learn more about Salo Contracting's timber-frame services contact Mark Salo at (906)281-5661 or salocontracting[at]yahoo.com. Make sure and let Mark know you saw him here. Thank You Mark!!!

Weed Block & Woodchips

We want paths that are durable (for high-traffic), low-maintenance, water permeable, and economical. Always looking for locally available materials, we decided to go with woodchips, a resource that is available in plenty each spring as a byproduct of the tree pruning the local power company performs around the power lines. Big thanks to UPPCO and Asplundh for the primo chips and the free delivery.

After some belly-aching about using a petroleum-based product, we decided to go with a commercial-grade weed barrier made from recycled plastic bottles. It took some searching online to find one made from recycled materials but we did and we were able to order it through our local hardware store (Risto's Hardware) for cheaper than we could buy it online. 

 

Being careful to lay the weed barrier with adequate overlap at the seams and around the edges we secured it in place using landscaping staples. Then the woodchips are piled on, and on, and on in a 4-6 inch layer.

Spring has Sprung!

 

It's April 8th and we're back at it! There's lots to do before our first growing season. Notice our newest and cutest addition in the foreground—the little circle bed. Our dedicated garden crew in the background work to top-off the raised beds with what's left of the compost pile.

Thanks to Susan Fawcett of Earthwork Music who stopped by and helped us get our sluggish gardening muscles back in tune.