| in the garden |
the potting shed. Maggie says she and her
husband, Ed, wanted to make better use of
their backyard and went to work planning
a combination potting shed and outdoor
kitchen, complete with ample seating
areas and a detached outdoor fireplace.
The covered kitchen area is attached to the
enclosed potting shed, making it a seamless
structure.
“It has a lot of functionality,” says Maggie.
18 LAKE OCONEE LIVING | FALL 2021
During quarantine, JoEllen Artz and her husband, John, built a cozy ‘she-shed’ at their
farmhouse in Rutledge. A Dutch door opens into an inviting living space and the front
porch overlooks the vegetable garden she shares with her next-door neighbor, Hilda
Chilton, and her inaugural flower garden out front.
“We use our backyard all the time now.”
The germ of this idea grew from a simple
metal sink she found at an auction years
ago that now holds a prominent place
inside Maggie’s dream potting shed.
“It’s really nothing special – just a metal
trough – but I love it.” For Maggie, she says,
the $25 metal sink was the inspiration for
a space of her own, where she no longer
had to jam all of her gardening tools in the
garage or drag them from under the house
when she wanted to work.
“My husband likes to say this is the $25
sink that cost me $100,000,” jokes Maggie.
Its rustic texture set the tone for the
potting shed, creating a quaint workspace
where watering cans and mud shoes live
easily alongside decorative baskets, gardening
books, and family art.
A large potting bench, built by Ed, is
adjacent to the sink and sees the bulk of the
action each season.
“The thing is, when you have a lot of
plants, they tend to make more plants,”
says Maggie, which is great for Cuscowilla’s
community garden.
The garden is sustained by volunteer contributions
from Cuscowilla members. Each
Saturday the Garden Club holds a Farmers
Market where they share the bounties
of the season at no cost. Maggie says she
enjoys seeing new faces come grab some
fresh ingredients for dinner or cut flowers
for a bouquet.
“It’s a fun spot and it brings people together,”
she says. “You meet people you might
not otherwise meet. If you’re a big golfer
and all your friends are on the golf course,
now you’re going to meet someone who is
into tennis or something else. So it’s nice
to have that common place you can bring
families and kids and let your dogs run
around in the park.”
Back in her potting shed, she also likes to
can and preserve additional treats to share
with her neighbors throughout the year.
“It’s just an all-around functional little
space,” says Maggie. “I’ve got a great view
and can see people coming and going. I
can get my books down and plan what I’m
going to do next year, watch the birds, and
just enjoy having a nice little retreat.”
Right now she is back at her desk, formulating
plans for a fall garden that will
include arugula, spinach, cabbage, broccoli,
pumpkins, and what she hopes will be a
strong showing of sunflowers. If so, her
potting shed will be ready – a place where
good things grow.