The garden shed

MULTI PURPOSE: My 8m by 3m shed is made from recycled materials. It faces North and is bermed into the slope with the soil 600ml up the back. 

PURPOSE 1 : The right third of the shed is a chook house. It is basically passive solar for the chooks, allowing warm winter sunshine in through the perspex (laserlite sheeting) from the North and then the cooling summer breezes from the south, which actually blow in around the hill behind it from the east. The western window is an old shower screen run horizontally, that lets a lovely late afternoon winter sun in from the north west. Shrubs planted outside the garden prevent the summer sun entering from its south west evening angle. This photo was taken in early Spring showing the 400ml wide verandah starting to provide shade on the walls.

PURPOSE 2 : The front of the shed is a great place to start off seedlings in Autumn and Winter in the old cement laundry tubs. They get the warmth of the sun, and shelter from the cold south winds, but also being up off the ground and under the small verandah, it keeps the frost off them.

PURPOSE 3 : The left end of the garden shed is a potting area, which is suitable to use year-round. 

WINTER - Sheltered from the rain and westerlies and warmed from the chook house end windows, it is a comfortable spot to potter during wet days or to duck out into the garden in the brief sunshine when we have the frequent days of alternating sun then showers. 

SUMMER - The open end provides shade in summer and usually a breeze from the east or south. 

PURPOSE 4: The roof space also collects quite a bit of rain water into a 1000 litre elevated tank. From this I fill 2 large tall open barrels which are used daily for washing and clean pet water. The tank also has a hose on it which can gravity feed to water the garden. This is slower than using the watering can from the barrels. If I have time, I water by gravity hose, but am fearful of leaving it running if I get distracted. This has happened twice in 7 years and the tank ran dry. 

PURPOSE 5 : The middle of the shed is animal feed storage, has a large blackboard for writing planting schedules on, a pot storage area, benches and a kitchen sink.