There are few outbuildings as appealing as the garden shed. Small, eminently affordable, totally functional, lacking in frivolity -- a purchase one could easily justify. All gardeners know that the accumulation of tools grows faster than the growth rate of plants. Just this year alone I’ve ordered a fine left-handed knife, a hand rake, a potato hook, a kneeling cushion/bench combination, several pairs of heavy-duty gloves, an extra trowel or two, and a new clippers.
I don’t lack storage space, but that has not kept me from wanting a small outbuilding, just for the garden. I’ve looked at shed kits in every conceivable style, from configurations for cozy cabins with window boxes, to Zen retreats, to cabanas with Palladian gables. There are hip-roofed styles recommended for California vineyards, austere slant-roofed sheds for tool minimalists, sheds with faux-Tudor rooflines, and five-sided numbers with French doors.