Later this morning I'm meeting up with the builder that put up the shell of our house to discuss the location and size of our new multi-use shed. If you have been around the blog for awhile you may recognize the little diagram I made when I was trying to figure out where to put the shed. When I put that picture together I was pretty set on location number three because of it was close to both water and electricity, but now that we have lived here through the end of winter and the beginning of spring I think I am changing my mind ... plus I found out that it would cost much more than I wanted to level out the spot (it wasn't super bad, but would make stacking hay a little tricky).What I realized is that location number three wouldn't work as well as I had hoped because of a few reasons. First of all, in order for it to be easy to back things into all three bays of the building I would really have to move it over to the east a bit so that I could clear the electrical transformer box. That move took me to ground that slooped to the northeast. Secondly, If I wanted to build in that general location it would mean that I had to move the building forward and thus kind of wipe out the garden spot. I really want the garden there for many reasons, so that just didn't work.
But, probably the biggest reason was because I plan on having deep bedding for the cattle on the east side of the building with an lot running out on that side. And in wet times (winter thaws and spring) that slope towards the ditch is very muddy. It just wouldn't be a good area to keep our livestock in the winter.
After seeing all of that and living here for a while I think we are going to go with a slightly modified location number one. I think I will back it up a little from that spot and move it so the right edge of the shed pretty much lines up with the left edge of the house (but probably not exactly). This gives us a flat spot for the building and the top of the hill for our winter lot (not as muddy). Plus it is really only about 25-30 feet further from the water and electricity than where I would have had to put the building if we went with location number three.
Our busy schedule paid off for once. It made us drag our feet on the shed because there were other more pressing matters and then we had the opportunity to see our land at work and get a better idea of where things belonged. I can't wait to see it up though!
2 comments:
I think you made the right choice. Keeping the front open will allow you to think about doing some things to help beautify the areas as you develop your business. Keeping the side that you welcome folks to your business less cluttered makes the overall feel of the farm to be a nice place to visit and spend time purchasing your products. You might think about some well placed trees that can accent the road approach as well. For instance, we are thinking of buying some small cherry trees for part of our 600ft driveway, that will have pretty flowers in the spring and provide fruit for sale in the fall. Buy them small now and let them grow!
John
Outbuilding siting is of vital importance. All your work and planning will pay off. I am tearing down some old outbuildings that were built around large trees to help support them! One is getting moved to a new location.
And sometimes, like you point out, letting things sit for a while is the best plan.
Hope your having a great day.
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