The thing about engineers is they have to build stuff. So when I tell you that the four weeks between graduation and when our bored engineer accepted a job was productive… I’m not kidding! Suddenly my husband had another set of hands for cutting down and moving dead trees, building another garden bed, and staining the barn… and he built me a farm stand!
The stars align
Truth be told, I had been bugging him to build me a farm stand. Sure, I could have done it. But not in the two days he built it! And my construction choices would have been forever questioned. So, with a lot of time on his hands in between interviewing and negotiating his first job and a CAD program on his computer from school – the stars had aligned!
Ever since the bored engineer was young, he would make me things. I loved it! In a short amount of time, his skills were far superior to mine, so when he was little, we made a deal. The things he would build or make for me would count as holiday gifts (the kid hates to shop)!
Then in high school, the goods really started rolling in when he took the wood shop and metals class. You’ll still see most of those high school wood and metal shop projects around my garden, including a garden bench, bat house, feed scooper, windmill, birdhouses, and more!
The big projects started when he assisted me occasionally with the How NOT to Build a Chicken Coop coop in 2020. By the time we built our second coop in 2020, The Bored Engineer’s Coop, well, I was assisting him. He also created a frame for my grow lights. These bigger projects counted as mother’s day, my birthday, and Christmas gifts all rolled into one – pretty sweet deal, right?
The Farm Stand design
After scouring Pinterest, I had three farm stand concepts I liked for different reasons. First, I wanted the bottom shelf lifted off the ground a good bit to avoid too much rain splashback. The structure needed to be heavy because our property is windy. And a steep roof was a must to push rain (and snow) off the back end.
I had a lot of little details in mind. For example, the top bars on each side of the farm stand needed to be high enough to be under the roof to hang herbs and keep them dry. I also wanted two shelves to maximize the amount of space. The top shelf is only half the depth, so everything on the bottom can be reached. Lastly, the back would be a chalkboard used as a sign. He was super patient and tweaked the design until it looked just like what I had in my mind. I was psyched!
Off to the big box store!
The build went pretty quickly. He had his blueprint, and a supply list, we picked out the stain, and he got to work. The final step was to create a nice foundation for the farm stand to be placed for stability and move it into place. Because the soil was lumpy and bumpy, he dug some soil out and filled it with a couple of inches of crushed stone.
The final steps
All in all, the whole project took maybe two days; didn’t he do a nice job? If you’d like the blueprints, let me know, and I’ll begin my campaign for him to finalize the plans and put them up on The Gardening Passion Etsy store.
~ Lola
“There are no gardening mistakes, only experiments!”
Why I Garden; if you grow it, they will eat it
Gardens we’ve built
Community Oasis Garden; exploring the passion
The Gardening Passion Expands; the garden that created a bidding war
Quick Turn Garden; two years and counting
The Empty Nest Garden; totally out of control
Coops we’ve built
How NOT to Build a Chicken Coop
The Bored Engineer’s Coop
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