When you are 9 years old, a playhouse made of recycled wood can become a castle, fortress, or anything else you can imagine.
by Hank Blumenthal
a place for imagination
Having been in construction, I assembled used plywood, 2×4’s, and other miscellaneous lumber. One day, my 9-year-old grandson, Aiden, asked me if we could build a theater, so we went, and spent several days of his summer and school vacation on this project. As you can imagine, we had a special time association while learning things like measuring, cutting wood, roofing, and planning use to maximize the materials available. In Aiden’s opinion, the most important lesson was not to hit your thumb with the hammer.
The playroom ended up being 8 feet wide, 8 feet deep, and 6½ feet high. It also has a window, a hinged door, a tar paper ceiling and a plywood floor. When we finished in the playroom, Aiden said, “Papa, this is the best project we’ve ever done!” When you are 9 years old, a playhouse made of recycled wood can become a castle, fortress, or anything else you can imagine.
Hank Blumenthal
Renton, Washington
antique abundance
I am a retired railway engineer with a constant interest in gardening. I always find MOTHER EARTH NEWS full of useful information. My garden shed is in the back of my two-acre property, where I have free chicken and keep three honeybee hives. All my friends seem to enjoy the free eggs and honey I always have. My roof stores a lot of antiques and any tools I need for gardening, as well as feeding my critters.
Lynn Sass
Elkhorn, Nebraska
Great Garden Shed Showoff Winners
Readers, in our February/March 2021 issue, we invite you to participate in the Great Garden Shed Showoff. We’ve picked the winners, and we’d like to thank everyone who submitted an entry. We’ve received a lot of great photos and stories about your sheds, and we’ll continue to share them with you in future releases. We hope you enjoy seeing these barns as much as we do! – Mother
Bulk color or decorative
My husband and I built our pot shed around seven used windows and a beautiful door we found in a demolished yard. We used translucent ceiling panels to let in natural light from above. Vented window on the west wall lets in heat. I start all my flower and vegetable seeds in this shed, which is where I store all my planting tools and equipment.
Linea Slayboh
Julian, Pennsylvania
Best use of repurposed or most diverse materials
Our garden shed is one of our favorite and most versatile buildings on our property.
The shed size is 8 feet by 8 feet, and the total roof area is 8 feet by 12 feet. The design is my own I built the frame entirely from recycled 2x4s from a neighbor’s homemade scaffolding project. I located the shed above the main 750 gallon aquifer rainwater harvesting tank. Rainwater is the only source of water in our home, making this shed and its network of pumps and plumbing a vital part of our infrastructure. The shed floor space contains garden and potting supplies as well as loose seeds, a mini shredder, and a mini lawn mower. An outdoor burden protects long-handled tools from sunlight and rain while being easy to reach.
Daniel Phillips
Mighty Oak Farm
By email
New uses for old cards
After many years of throwing away old Christmas cards, an idea came to me. Every birthday, I like to display the cards I receive from friends and relatives. I write their addresses on the back of the cards, and when Christmas is over, I keep the cards until next year so I remember who I need to send a card to. When the time comes, I have the titles readily available, and I use the card fronts to cut out festive gift cards. This system works well, and reallocation is always a good idea.
Donna Snyder
By email
garden bed creativity
We recently decided to build raised garden beds. We didn’t know what to use to raise the beds, so we came up with the idea of using plastic window wells we bought at a local building hardware store. We put green treated plywood inch above the window openings, then drill inch holes through the plywood for drainage. We set our plants on top of the plywood, then added an inch of stone inside the planters and filled everything in with dirt. We’re looking forward to spring, when we don’t have to bend over to do gardening!
Thank you, MOTHER EARTH NEWS, for all your great articles over the years!
Kurt and Lisa Van Weyl
By email
goat house
This year, my husband converted a local children’s home built by the Amish into a goat barn and milking parlour. We have two Nigerian dwarf goats – Blackberry Cobbler and Nutmeg – which are the dairy source for our family. We have our fresh milk, we make goat milk soap, cosmetics, and problems. We have a 14-year-old miniature Dachshund who has been so allergic this year that she has had sores on her buttocks and paws. She licked and scratched a lot, which contributed to infections in those areas, and she ended up with bacterial and fungal problems. Eventually, she lost hair from her backside and her skin color turned dark. Her nails swollen and bled, so she had trouble walking. A vet treated her, but she still had problems. The treatment was conservative due to her age. To help remedy the situation, I started wiping it down twice daily with organic apple cider vinegar (which contains motherwort) diluted 50 percent with water. After two months of diligent treatment, almost everything was cured!
Lani Fioriti
By email
custom “she shed”
My husband built this amazing shed for me in 2019 and 2020. He collected and renovated the windows, tin roof and wood sided window boxes. He added an antique door featuring three glass mosaic pieces, and hung a solar lamp from the ceiling with a redirected shade. Keep tools and treasures inside.
Cheryl Jaber
By email
copper tube rack
I used copper pipe to create the brackets for the shelves, which allowed me to have any size of shelves I needed, as opposed to store-bought shelves that come in 1 or 2 foot options. For the shelves themselves, I used old fence boards that people would throw in the neighborhood. I love to recycle materials when possible.
Oksana Pop
Placerville, California
Making garden signs
I have a friend who is an avid vegetarian gardener. Her garden is huge and produces an abundance of crops – far more than her small family needs. Of course, one of the joys of gardening is sharing in the bounty freely, and she does it with anyone and everyone!
Like most gardeners, after planting long rows of seeds, she places a stake at the end of each row to mark what is in the ground. She says, “There is something satisfying about this little party that goes beyond a mere reminder of the place; it is a statement of faith in what will happen.”
Her stakes were just a ballpoint pen on wooden paint sticks. It was functional but unattractive. In my opinion, they were not befitting her beautiful garden. Being a 3D printing enthusiast, I offered to design and produce custom stakes. After several prototypes and color combination evaluations, we’ve come up with a final version that measures 13 inches tall, 4 inches wide, and more than 1/8 inch thick. The fun for me was dedicating each share to her garden. Unfortunately, after being in the ground only for a few hours in direct sunlight on a warm day, the stakes withered and slithered back to the ground! My mistake was to make them out of polylactic acid, which is a type of bioplastic. After more testing, I made new rations of PETG, which is a different type of PET — think water bottles — that is more heat-resistant and UV-resistant. As an extra measure, I wrapped a 2mm stainless steel rod into the stem of each stake. No more wilting, even at 106 degrees Fahrenheit! Her garden now includes beautiful servings of 19 different vegetables. The wedges will not rot or rust, and can be reused for many years.
Tom Evans
Centralia, Washington
Well-lit workspace
We built our garden shed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The best part is that we were able to use repurposed windows, glass blocks, and clear polycarbonate sheets for the roof. It has plenty of natural lighting.
Loretta Hall
Blaine, Pennsylvania
Happy with the digital version
Thank you for making the digital version of Mother Earth News available. It will be useful for me and my wife. We don’t understand English very well, but we will be able to translate the digital version easily with Google.
When we were in Arizona a couple of years ago, my wife bought a copy of Mother Earth News from a hardware store. She has been browsing since then, and sometimes I help her translate articles. So far, the magazine is obsolete but it is very much appreciated.
Peter Backus
Hungary
made with meaning
My garden shed is finally a reality! It’s made of materials that are repurposed for certain purposes, some of which hold a special meaning.
The bricks in the front belonged to a dear friend I lost in 2013. Birds on the door in honor of my 96-year-old mother. Thank you for letting me share my treasure!
cheerful
By email
Write to us!
Started in the 1970’s to raise awareness of environmental concerns and to provide information and support for a simpler lifestyle, MOTHER EARTH NEWS has made this far due to the continued interest of you, the readers.
Your dedication to living a more sustainable life has kept this magazine going for five decades and an increasingly digital world, and we’d love to hear from you. Send photos of your farm, garden, and any projects you’ve done over the past five decades to Letters@MotherEarthNews.com. Or send an email to Dear MOTHER, 1503 SW 42nd St, Topeka, KS 66609. Please submit your full name, address and telephone number. We may edit for clarity and length.
Posted on December 31, 2021
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