“This World is but a canvas to our imagination.” Henry David Thoreau
Every year, someone texts, emails, or stops by when I’m out working in the garden at my studio, in Baltic, SD. asking if I would sell my cute little shed.
I’m so! Flattered that the whimsy and joy of my shed captured your heart.
I used to wonder why it bothered me so much when someone would ask. One day I realized it brings me as much joy as it does for you.
So! Here is the story of the shed.
Our first next door neighbors built that shed. They were quiet men, Keith and Doug, with a neat and tidy yard, with a duck in the backyard and this cute little greenhouse shed.
Doug would putter around the yard everyday after work. My daughter, then a baby, and I would swing and play in our backyard.
My husband, agronomist Robert Fritz, works late into the evenings farming. So Robyn and I would play outside, and often end up sitting in the grass with Doug, chatting and tending the baby. Drinking ice tea, eating crackers, balmy June evenings, enjoying rural South Dakota.
Sometimes he would watch her for a few minutes so I could change out of my work clothes or feed the dog. I love things that are quintessential.
I think the greenhouse-shed was a kit. He used it to start tomatoes, and green peppers. He didn’t have a big garden. He used it mainly as a potting shed. He liked cactus.
A few years later, he developed lung cancer and died very quickly. Keith moved out. New neighbors moved in, Amanda and Josh.
After a couple years, Josh asked me if I wanted the shed. They never used it.
Of course! I want the shed! Who wouldn’t!
It was a pain in the ass to move it. It was. We brought the skid steer from the farm over but the ground was too soft, and it wouldn’t fit through the other gate.
We ended up taking it apart, putting the pieces in the bucket and hauling it to my shop, where we put it back together.
My workshop is an old bar and grill. Outside the bar, on the west side of the building is a concrete slab where the grease bin was for the restaurant. We rebuilt the shed on the slab. I painted, and added quintessential decor. A window box of red geraniums, a delightful patch of Zinnias, Four-O-Clocks and Morning glories>
I admit. It is pinterest worthy. For me, my garden aesthetic is all about the quintessential whimsical cottage look. And I can help you get that look too, with your own shed.
Elaine Fritz, South Dakota Master Gardener 