It is hard to believe it is July.
Summer is in full swing here in northern Michigan and gardening sometimes takes a back seat to beaches, boating and barbecues. I spent the week before the Fourth of July finishing my own annual plantings at home. I will spend the rest of the summer doing other garden projects.
The list gets longer every year because for some reason, (too hot, too overwhelming, too hard, there is not enough time) we never start or finish certain projects. The garden shed is one of those.
Here is a brief history of the shed: When we moved to Elk Rapids 30 years ago, my husband decided to build a shed. I had lots of ideas and suggestions on said shed, like “it should have windows with planter boxes under them that I could plant and make it cute.” His idea was decidedly different. He wanted it out of sight as much as possible and to blend in with the surrounding pine and cedar trees. Since he was the builder of said shed, you can guess who won. He built the shed without windows or planter boxes and painted it as close to spruce green as he could.
Over the ensuing years, he added shelves along the back and side for my pots and tools. There was a time that I was able to use them too, until the dreaded creep of junk set in. My husband is a great guy, but he lacks any organizational genes. Anyone who knows me might laugh at this point because I am not organized by nature. Over the years of being a business owner, I have developed a few basic skills for my own sanity, but it is not my strong suit. So, picture this; anything and everything that was in the yard at the end of the summer, started going into the shed.
Not on the shelves, but wherever there was space.
It did not matter if it was a non-functioning patio umbrella, a broken pot, or a partially used bag of fertilizer, it all got tossed in.
It did not take long before it was impossible to get into the shed to find anything. There was no longer room for the lawn mower, tomato cages, or other things I assume people store in their sheds. So, the door remained closed, and “out of sight, out of mind” is how we both dealt with it.
A few years ago, I started dreaming and talking about cleaning out the shed and returning it to its previous functional, if not pretty, state. I may have even threatened to burn it down at some point in the conversation and start over. A bit extreme, I admit.
As of today, nothing has happened to advance this ambitious project, mostly because I feel overwhelmed by the sheer size of the task and do not know where to start. I should take the advice of Lewis Carroll and start at the beginning and keep going until you reach the end.
As you look around your garden this summer, pick one or two projects, start at the beginning, and keep going until you reach the end. Then stop, sit back, and enjoy the fruits of your hard work and the season before it is gone. I will keep you posted on the progress of my summer project. Good luck with yours!