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The Metro which is nearly overtaking the telegraph in it’s number of sheds stories, reports on young people living in sheds due to the credit crunch and they use a picture of a cabin to represent their finds.

It used to be just fairies that lived at the bottom of the garden but it seems the credit crunch has put paid even to that.

Young couples unable to afford their own place are setting up home in glorified sheds in their parents’ back gardens instead.

The two-bedroom cabins – called ‘kids digs’ – cost less than £40,000, do not need planning permission and can be built in three weeks.

They may even add a holiday feel.

Sales in the chalets are booming among twentysomethings as a home of their own becomes an increasingly distant dream, said property company Custom Timber Build UK.

It could spark a return to 1950s-style living, when several generations of a family lived on a single plot of land, said director Bill Allen.

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My mate Chris (yes I have friends in the real word) has a shed, its normal apart from the massive ivy issue he has, which is growing up the powerline next to the shed and may cause electrical issues on the scale of mine the last weekend.

Anyway here he writes about solving the problem.

Barenaked shed

There it was - my power pole - standing there swathed in ivy -
erupting, rocket-like from the rear of my shed.

You see it was the only thing that put us off the purchase as we
looked at buying our home, almost two years ago, a low-voltage power
line ran across the southern tip of the beautiful garden.

The supporting pole sat midway between the roadside and a sleepy,
cow-filled field and was covered with ivy over two-thirds of it’s
height, which kind of made it appear as an organic extension of my
beloved shed.

We became accustomed to it - in much the same way as some people fail
to register when the 1800 from Waterloo is thundering through their
back garden, or the students next door are playing the best of Burt
Bacharach, at volume and on repeat.

But as the years passed, the ivy grew nearer and nearer to the power
lines, threatening to electrocute not only my koi carp and my
daughter, but a selection of garden gnomes which had set up camp at
it’s base - much like a gaggle of multi-coloured Swampies.

Well protest as much as they might … I love my carp, and my daughter
too, and the growing risk was just too high. It was time to call in
the power people - who in true Jack and the Beanstalk stylee reduced
the luxuriant growth to a pile of potential kindling and compost,
within two strenuous hours, utilising weaponry that would have ninja
warriors nodding and purring

It’s a strange, bare sight now, with a poodle-esque topping. I hope to
grow something new around it, pleasing the gnomes and the Mrs. But
now I think about it - I’ve always fancied a totem pole - and this one
just might be hand carved to celebrate Shed year 2008

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Here is a selection of websites where you can get the latest info on Chelsea as I can not compete with them as a humble shed site

The telegraph has a wonderful section devoted to Chelsea, including 360 panowossnames, guides and some great videos
.
The Daily nail has a page of summary with pictures of naked ladies painted as flowers.

The BBC as always does a great job (you would think they are commercial sometimes)

The times has a page, but it’s hidden.

The indy has a good page and a good blog as well.

The guardian has a small guide.

The telegraph and the BBC make the official site look pale in comparison.

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It’s Be Nice to Nettles Week - 14 - 25 May 2008

Highlighting that the stinging nettle plays a very important role for both rural and urban wildlife supporting over 40 species of insect including some of our most colourful butterflies.

The stinging nettle is one of the most important native plants for wildlife in the UK. An ideal home for insects.

More info here, maybe you could create your own nettle patch, but I know some allotment sheddies are well ahead of the game.

I have done my part already with a few bottle of Hugh Fernley Whittingstall wossname River Cottage stinger Ale made from organic nettles, a nice rounded beer I found…

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After the many reports of about cleaner toilets then your keyboard Alex has some advice for the shedworker.

Consider the state of my special keyboard at work, I think working from the shed would do me the world of good.

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Shed of the Year judge and of course windup things Inventor Trevor Baylis explains the story behind the Eco Media Player.

You can buy them from Natural Collection

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This story on Boingboing about Artist Nina Katchadourian who tried repairing spider webs with thread, but her efforts were rebuffed: “My repairs were always rejected by the spider and discarded, usually during the course of the night, even in webs which looked abandoned.”

Image from Nina’s site, nice looking shed BTW

Of course all sheddies know that spiders and their webs are a sacred part of the shedworld. and should not be tampered with.

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If you have had any shed related incidents with this weather then let me know, and photos of your shed being blown away, demolished or better still holding out against the weather, then contact me, or put them up on the Flickr shed group.

There are reports from around the country about shed incidents.

Our very Own Alex, has had weather issues.

Above is Shedworking HQ, entry barred by the neighbour’s Ceanothus tree, ripped off a foot from the ground which is a pity as its blue flowers are extremely pretty more

A spokeswoman said the council received reports of three trees falling in the south of the county, and a garden shed collapse in Wiston.

and the insurers give some good advice, but it’s probly too late now

“Also, have a quick check for any loose tiles or slates and make sure shed or conservatory windows and doors are tightly shut. And if you have a garage, use it.”

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I saw this the other day on the metro

Artist Sumer Erek’s newspaper house is an idea that stands up.

He is creating a house made out of about 80,000 papers.

Erek, 48, said: ‘People don’t think you can build a house from newspapers because paper is flimsy, but when it is rolled up it is quite strong.’

He said the project was about ‘making public use of a public space using public waste’.

and Alex sent me this about a house and workshop made from beercans.

Michael Stravato for The New York Times

John Milkovisch spent twenty years emptying 50,000 beer cans and recycling them into cladding for his house and workshop, using the tops for a clever sun-shading system. It opens this weekend as Houston’s latest tourist attraction. A quote from Mr. Milkovisch is on a wall: “They say every man should leave something to be remembered by. At least I accomplished that goal.”

An art patron explains why Houston is home to so many zany houses: “One good thing about not having any zoning is you can do stuff.”
via treehugger

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I know most sheddies don’t have much bother with grass, better to get a bigger shed on the space or a veg plot, but as the thing is for green things, then this may be of interest.

A new breed of high-tech, environmentally friendly lawnmower producing no emissions is set to go on sale in the UK.

The Husqvarna Automower Solar Hybrid is the world’s first solar/electric hybrid robot lawnmower.
It can cut grass unsupervised, and its manufacturers say it could save up to 40 hours of labour in the garden – the equivalent of a week’s holiday – every year.

The futuristic lawnmower uses the same amount of energy as a standard light bulb and is made from 90% recyclable materials.

The area of grass it cuts can be defined using a boundary cable, which also stops flowerbeds being damaged and helps the mower find its way back to its charging station.
While not the first robotic mower to reach UK markets, the Automower is the most environmentally friendly.

Bengt Andersson, CEO of the Swedish-based company Husqvarna, said: “This is as green as mowing gets, without compromising on performance. 90% of Automower is recyclable, it eliminates the need for fertilisers, it is silent and it delivers perfect results with zero emissions.”

The blades of the mower cut the grass with small blades in an irregular pattern, leaving a fine mulch that does not need raking and acts as fertiliser for the lawn.

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Culture Secretary Andy Burnham visited a Grade II-listed pigeon loft threatened with demolition.

Mr Burnham was taken to the cree, on an allotment in Ryhope, near Sunderland, by local MP Fraser Kemp.

English Heritage granted it listed status in 1998 but the land’s owners, Newcastle-based Worktalent Ltd, want to redevelop the allotments.

The cree’s owner, 75-year-old Maurice Surtees, and 21 other allotment holders have vowed to save the loft and the surrounding land and their efforts have been backed by local campaign groups and MPs.

credit: striatic

The allotment holders were offered a £250,000 compensation package to move out, but they all turned it down.

Another developer has started talks with Worktalent hoping to broker a deal to save the site.
Mr Surtees said: “My message to the developer is if he has got any decency, take the offer and leave us alone.

“We just want to live in peace. Give up? Never. I’d rather drop down dead than give up.”
Mr Burnham said: “The cree is a unique piece of culture in this part of the world.
“I represent an area similar to this one in the North West and from my point of view heritage is not just in other parts of the country.

“We have got to celebrate our culture wherever we find it.
“The cree is listed for a good reason. I know there is a decision on-going and it is not for me to intervene in that.”

The row has reached Parliament where Labour MP Fraser Kemp, whose constituency includes the cree, tabled a Commons motion backing the pigeon fanciers.

More info here

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The UKIPO has launched this years Cracking ideas competitoin which our very own Trevor Baylis is involved.

The UK-IPO’s Cracking Ideas 2008 is launched today at the Education Show being held at Birmingham’s NEC.

Cracking Ideas offers teachers resources and activities for the classroom through a website http://www.crackingideas.com The resources link to a nationwide competition to find the inventors of tomorrow. Children aged 9-11 will be encouraged to come up with a new invention - with the emphasis on something eco friendly.

The campaign is backed by Oscar(r) winners Wallace & Gromit and uses inspiration from their new film A Matter of Loaf and Death and features their own green inventions. Prizes for the winning schools include a special screening of the new film.

Minister for Intellectual Property Baroness Delyth Morgan said it was an important initiative to get children thinking about innovation at an early age.

Trevor Baylis, one of Britain’s most famous inventors, has recently launched the innovative Eco Media Player. The inventor of the Wind-up Radio has brought the idea to a modern media player which stores 500 songs and comes with a radio and torch. It plays music for 20 hours before it needs to be charged - and this is done by cranking a fold-up handle at the rear rather than plugging it in.

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