The Potting Shed: Garden Book Review

Holley at Roses and Other Garden Joys has started a new meme today: Monthly Garden Book Review.  I have a large collection of garden books, so I am happy to join in the fun. My first review for 2012 is of The Potting Shed by Linda Joan Smith. I will illustrate this review with pictures of my own potting shed.

My potting shed is the focal point of my kitchen garden.

Smith takes a very whimsical look at potting sheds in this little book. I find her wistful prose quite charming as she portrays the purposes and pleasures of the gardener's workspace (not always a shed, but perhaps a corner of a garage or laundry room). The book is in two parts: The first part called 'Where the Garden Begins' discusses the pleasures, traditions, and tools of the potting shed. The second part takes us through the gardening year, and is entitled 'Seasonal Joys and Timely Labors'.

"The shed's  hallmark, of course, is a potting bench, a yard deep and as wide as space allows," Smith says.

I start seeds in the house, then place them under a light on the potting bench.

She describes how to equip the potting shed with hooks and racks, bins and baskets. She devotes a chapter to tools.

I found this useful cabinet in the attic.

Crates for storage hang from hooks in my shed.

She shows the potting shed as a very personal space, a sanctuary of each gardener's own making.

I personalized my shed with a display of antique tools and an ancient ladder...

... and with other finds from the attic in our old farmhouse.

 Throughout Smith's book there are gardening tips in side boxes, from how to make compost tea to making seed starter mixes.  There are also boxes containing charming quotations. One of my favorites is by Ralph Waldo Emerson, "My hoe as it bites the ground revenges my wrongs, and I have less lust to bite my enemies. In smoothing the rough hillocks, I sooth my temper." It is obvious to me that Smith really is a gardener!

If you want to know how to build a shed, this book is not for you. It is an 'ideas' book rather than a 'how to' manual. You would be better reading Building Great Sheds by Danielle Truscott.

The construction of my shed.

Construction was completed in 2006

I change the outside decoration of the shed frequently. Chickens this year.

I open Smith's little book often, not only for the prose but also for the photographs that bring back memories of my Dad's shed. Hugh Palmer's photographs are of REAL sheds, often quite rustic, showing the true purpose of a potting place. Each shed reflects the personality of its owner.

This book is not for every gardener, but you will enjoy it if you are crazy about potting sheds like me. (Some people think that I'm just crazy to feel so passionate about a shed.) But this book could make you look at potting sheds differently.

Thank you Holley for hosting this meme. I'm now going over to your blog, Roses and Other Gardening Joys, to read some more book reviews. I know I'll want to add some of them to my collection -- there goes the 'spend less on gardening' resolution. We are getting our first plough-able snowfall tonight, so it's perfect weather for reading.

Happy Gardening! Happy Reading!

Pamela x

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