Square in the middle of the holiday full, I took a jaunt down a small side trail. You might remember the recent purge that was undertaken here a couple weeks ago. I blame that for this. Get the shed & larder set to rights, and, well, the next thing to do is make a good thing better.
I'd conceived of a larder a long time ago, what with the amount of food we go through here, and our penchant for harvesting & preserving our own. I've got pantry shelves inside the house for the everyday, but there's simply no room for the hoard in there. So a larder was thought up, a place outside the house that could hold a cool year-round temperature for all the canned and dry goods we'd like to keep.
Turns out, there was an empty, damaged shed on the property that was the perfect size. We moved it (by chain hooked onto a truck bumper) to a handier place, and hired a carpenter friend to fix the broken places. We painted the floor with gray porch paint, and had grand plans to double-insulate it, plank the inside walls, build shelves from floor to ceiling and wall to wall, and line the perimeter with bins for onions, potatoes, apples, and squash.
Those grand plans are still just as grand, and they are still just plans. How is it that the larder money is gobbled up by something else every single time? Sigh. Once again, the larder finishing has been moved to next spring.
But, wait.
Isn't it often true that when big plans can't, little plans can? Something of a mean-time solution seemed just right.
Enter a salvaged bi-fold door (here leaned against the back shelf in the shed, awaiting it's new life).
Side note: The shed holds our camping gear, outdoor gear, lawn chairs, potting bench, tool bench, off-season clothes, Christmas decor, and our library. I was recently asked where we keep sports equipment. See the gray bin there with football pads inside? Ta-da!
With hardware removed, the bi-fold doors, paired with simple brackets, became impromptu shelves for the larder, perfect for keeping the canning jars and food preservation equipment off the floor and orderly.
Below the shelves are stacked wooden crates (yes, those wooden crates), ready to store pantry supplies that can take a winter freeze. The vintage yellow can holds a 50lb sack of flour. Baskets & bins that hang from the rafters are regularly employed in the garden in summer.
After this little shift, the not-yet-finished feels pretty good.
Wishing you a calm, settled, holiday week, friends!
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