WILDLIFE AND MY SHED

My shed porch with hanging bushel basket

My old shed is rather unique as it has a roomy open porch where one can sit and read or think or do just about anything.  A wood plank door located at the back of the porch leads to an interior room, also roomy with a broad wood shelf along one side. 

When I first moved here, I thought of converting the shed to a studio but soon realized that the hornets, spiders and  insects loved the place more than I did.

And another species soon loved the place when I hung my bushel basket high up on the porch wall.  I soon realized that a couple of little Carolina wrens were zipping in and out of the basket after I had hung it. 

I tilted the basket a bit to peek inside and realized that the wrens were setting up an encampment for their future family. So instead of sitting on the shed's porch to read and think I backed off and and occasionally watched their activities from a distance. I was rewarded by their lovely songs that first summer. 

Now five years later,  they are still using my bushel basket each summer -- hanging on the shed wall just for them. 

As I write this,  the basket nesting site is empty of wrens. Gone also is their  lilting summer songs that they sing during nesting time, especially the male.  I still have an occasional view of the  wrens as they flit about my trees with various short chirpy notes. They stay through the winter. They usually mate for life.

Yesterday my fall  day was heavy with winter-like skies. A sign of the approaching winter season. I realized it was time to start battening down my hatches to keep me warm and safe against winter storms.

Then again, spring will return and the wrens, hopefully, will still be here with me and again decide to nest in my basket. What goes round, comes round as my good friend always used to say. 

I'll keep my basket hanging just in case.

Wren's nesting abode

WORKING GARDENING SHED

An old Kentucky 19th century homestead still maintains several of its viable working outbuildings. One of its outbuildings is this small old vertical board shed that's original use is unknown. But today it serves quite nicely as a home gardening shed. It still stands strong upon its original location.


Ideally, one should leave original outbuildings upon their original sites. Old decaying outbuildings could  be considered for removal with the owner's permission. Below are a few examples of some that were removed.

I have a friend that has an old outhouse that she bought and had delivered to her backyard garden area. She uses it today as a garden shed. 

Another friend loved the old outbuildings that doted the landscapes in Michigan. She asked her husband to find her one and have it delivered to their property for her birthday. On her birthday she got what she wished for. She drys herbs and flowers and wanted the outbuilding for that purpose only -- sorta her studio to be alone with her interests.

I wish that old farms could maintain their outbuildings so they wouldn't fall to decay. However, many times there are either economical or physical reasons why they cannot be kept viable. 


I feel the next best thing to decline is finding new homes for them where they can be appreciated and folks driving by can have the opportunity to see a little bit of our farm history.

If you do remove a building from an old farmstead take photos of its surroundings for historical purposes. Your local historical society would be interested in copies of the photos (and  perhaps a history) for their archives. 

APPLACHIAN STORAGE SHED

 

This old box construction shed has run out of space for storing its stuff.  Perhaps some good ole spring cleaning will bring it back into a manageable  form.