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One part potash, two parts imagination

5/4/2014

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Picture
By Linda Gordon

​MY GARDEN shed is an open-plan affair, a very convenient design for getting in and out with bulky things. There are no doors and just one corrugated tin wall.

It can have an appealing ready-to-work feel about it with tools to hand and a clear bench or, as it does now, it can reflect my landfill guilt syndrome, and be a jumble of objects that might just come in handy.

I still think there is a thick line between hoarding and recycling in my case. But it’s probably time to tackle a few projects that can gobble up some objects and find a new home out of doors.

Using repurposed and recycled stuff is an established garden design aesthetic. Gardens featuring revamped shipping containers win awards.

But no need to be grandiose. Let’s start small with the sagging director’s chairs that came into the shed from a hard rubbish collection. Most people have one of these taking up space.

The canvas chair backs are frayed and useless. Simply cut them away and then saw off their wooden supports to use as short garden stakes. 

You now have a stool with arms or a backless chair.

It can go straight onto the back porch to continue a useful life. Be careful to place it against a supporting wall, though, as it can be a slightly confusing piece of furniture.

Next the corroded, unstable metal barbecue; this will find new life as the base of a bird bath until it collapses with a final wobble.

I’m on a roll here. The leftover short bits of guttering mesh will keep the blackbirds and cabbage moths off the broccoli seedlings, a biscuit tin gets planted up with sweet peas, and a rusty metal disc, from something, is now a post-industrial bee and butterfly drinking dish.

What a relief to use things that take up space.

This holds true for your fresh produce, too.

Those roaming pumpkin vines with tendrils and young leaves can be used while waiting for the fruit to mature.

Pick the excess young shoots with leaves and flowers attached. Then steam or stir fry them, or cook them in coconut milk. They are best cooked and eaten when fresh picked.

I haven’t tried this yet, but I’m told zucchinis can be treated in the same way and may help prevent the dreaded glut.
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