International Shed of the Year: YOU decide

There isn't an official prize for International Shed of the Year (although a category will be in place for it for the 2009 Shed Week celebrations) but because of the high quality of the entrants Uncle Wilco and Shedworking felt that it was only right to highlight our two favourites and ask the public which one they liked the best. So above is my choice, James Glave's Eco-Shed in Bowen Island, British Columbia, Canada, the subject of his book due out in September, Almost Green. And below is Mikey B's tiki hut in Altadena, California. It's well worth clicking on the links since there is lots of building detail about each of them on the readersheds.co.uk site.

National Shed Week: Photo Competition winner announced

As National Shed Week approaches the finish line, we still have a couple of winners to announce. On Tuesday we'll be awarding International Shed of the Year and this weekend James Roberts comes away with first prize in the photo competition with this marvellous allotment shed shot. Here's what he says about it:

"A high dynamic range picture of a local Ravenglass potting shed - why photograph a potting shed, why not, it was there and seemed like a good idea at the time."

James' photo won 83% of the public vote. Congratulations!

National Shed Week: Shed Poet Laureates

If you needed any more persuading that shedlife is inspirational, then take a look at Shed of the Year runner-up Simon Kirby's video at Newbury Today. Not only does he show us around his marvellous shed, he also finishes off with a special Ode to A Shed and promises that he is working on a book of shed-inspired poetry.Meanwhile John Davies aka Shedman has been busy in his specially-erected B&Q shed (pictured above) at the Ledbury Poetry Festival, performing and welcoming fellow shed enthusiasts. He has certainly not been idle as he has also written a special poem for National Shed Week:

Encomium for Shed Week

In Shedbury they’re celebrating the winners of Shedweek,
flags and bunting deck the streets and houses of Shedwick;
Sheddingham resounds to the cheers of sheddie folk
and Bedfordshire has change its name to extend the joke.

In allotments, along the tracks, the sheds of Britain amass
to join the chorus of salute to the winners of each class.
'All hail!' they cry, as thunderclouds deliver another load,
leaving the sheds slightly damp but not at all subdued.

And to you, Tim from Sudbury, the highest accolade:
The Rugby Pub of Suffolk, the finest ever made;
octagonal with roof lights, complete with double doors
three fridges and a hammock, Shed of the Year is yours.

Upsteps a larch-lapped champion to raise the cry again
across United Sheddom, from every shed and man:
'To you the victor’s laurels, to you the winner’s band!
The Rugby Pub of Suffolk is the best shed in the land!'
©Shedman 2008 All rights reserved

Keep up to date with all the latest happenings at Shedblog, the official blog of National Shed Week 2008.

National Shed Week: Tatton Park Tower

Construction work has got underway during National Shed Week on artist Nicky Coutts’ A Tower in the Minds of Others at Tatton Park as part of its Biennial celebrations. Taking shape near the Japanese Garden is a series of stacked English garden sheds, which collectively resemble a Japanese pagoda - the final structure will eventually be 6m high and will be officially launched on July 19. The Tower is one of six semi-permanent commissions created for Tatton Park Biennial during Cheshire’s Year of Gardens ’08. Plans and proposals for the Tower, below, courtesy Capstone Consulting Engineers Ltd.Thanks to Nikki Spencer for the alert.

National Shed Week: Art & Artisan Bookshop

Shedworking's Literary Editor Sarah Salway has been out and about as usual during National Shed Week and called in on the fine people at Art & Artisan Bookshop (a marvellous place run by Judith Bowen and Rachel Hawes which also sells Persephone and Eland books so is doubly marvellous) in Bishops Castle, Shropshire. And look at their special display...

National Shed Week: Green Gables video

It's always nice to have a look around other people's sheds and garden offices, and here's the chance to take a peak into Green Gables, winner of the 'wooden' category of Shed of the Year and eventual fourth place overall.

National Shed Week: vote now in the photo competition

Your involvement in National Shed Week is not over yet! Uncle Wilco and myself have been judging the Shed Photo Competition as part of NSW and we can't agree on a winner so it's down to you to make your voices heard. The two finalists are pictured above (by James Roberts) and below (by Andrew Skegg) and to vote simply nip over to Shedblog and choose your favourite shot.

National Shed Week: The Nuts Shed Report

Lads mag Nuts - a publication which may have escaped the attention of Shedworking's readers - has put together a special tribute to sheds for National Shed Week (pictured below are England cricketer Ravi Bopara and Nuts Girl Imogen at the launch in London). Their research reveals that:
* Over a third of 18-25-year-olds want their own shed
* 33% of men think having a shed is a positive influence on their relationship (as do 19% of women)
* 40% of respondents believe a good shed is an important factor when buying a house
* the recommended amount of 'Shed Time’ from shed owners is 3½ hrs a month
More details and pictures at Shedblog.

National Shed Week: The Material Poll

Today's poll asks the question, is there more to shedworking than a timber frame? Do you prefer metal? Or fancy a glass shed? Maybe plastic works for you? Make your vote count in the poll at the top of the right hand column and please do add your comments below explaining your choice. Pictured above is an Apache Wickiup grass/straw hut from 1903 by Edward S. Curtis courtesy of the marvellous Old Picture.

National Shed Week: What's top of your wish list?

Today's poll - see top of the right hand column for details - is all about those little extras in shedworking. What would you like in your garden office? Something green, something revolving or something relaxing? You can vote for more than one...

National Shed Week: Hampton Court Palace Flower Show

Shedworking's official Garden Show Editor Emma Townshend has been scouting around this year's Hampton Court Palace Flower Show, scheduled this year to coincide with National Shed Week, and has come back as always with some beauties. Above are examples from the Museum of Garden History's stand in the Plant Heritage Marquee, the one on the right a recreation of a 1970s shed complete with space hopper. Below, a fine example of an authentic Arctic shed or 'kota' by Garden Exteriors. Standing 3.7m tall, it is constructed with 45mm x 145mm double tongue and groove, half round profile, arctic pine from sustainable forests in northern Finland within the Arctic Circle.You can, and should, read more at Emma's Baklava Shed Coalition blog which is almost certainly the jolliest gardening blog on the entire interweb.

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National Shed Week: virtual shed

John from Secrets-of-shed-building.com has been getting in the swing of things for National Shed Week by designing a virtual shedlike atmosphere especially for the occasion. Simply click here and follow the instructions. Here's what he says:

"To celebrate the arrival of this year's shed week, Secrets of Shed Building are giving away FREE SHEDS (well....virtual ones), for this week only, to any visitor who wants one! If you haven't come across 3dimensional pdf files before this is something new to discover. I have created a 3 dimensional model of a Gabled shed [pictured above]. When you open the document there is a toolbar above the image, use this to select the function - rotate, spin, pan or zoom hold down the mouse and move it over the shed. It may take a bit of experimentation to get a good view of the area you want."

He's also offering a free subscription to his new monthly e-zine,'Shed Building Monthly', which comes with top tips and answers to readers' questions every month starting in September.

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Our Monday posts are sponsored by garden2office, the Swedish garden office
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Time running out to vote for Shed of the Year

Vote. Here. Now.

What song should Fin Raucous play for National Shed Week?

Fin Raucous is certainly the finest shed-based ukulele player in the world. There can be no argument about that as this video demonstrates......and indeed we've featured Fin on Shedworking previously (click here for his superb Get Over You). For National Shed Week, Fin has offered to record his own inimitable version of a song selected by the public so nip over to Shedblog now and make your vote count. And then vote for your favourite sheds.

Don't forget to vote...

Go here, pick a category, vote for your favourite.

Then pick another, and vote.

And another.

Voting is now open for Shed of the Year 2008

Voting offically starts for Shed of the year 2008 today. Here's what you need to do to make your voice heard and your vote count:

1) Go to the readersheds.co.uk voting site

2) Take a good long browse through the various categories which this year are: Normal Shed, Bike Shed, Garden Office, Cabin, Workshop, Garage, Unique, Summerhouse, Pub Shed, Studio, Tardis, Hut/Beach Hut, Wooden, Concrete, Other, Weird

3) Vote for whichever sheds take your fancy in as many categories as you like

4) Make sure you vote before July 4

The winners in each category then go forward to be debated by the international panel of judges who then decide on the overall winner. For more details, go to Shedblog

Pub sheds - National Shed Week voting starts tomorrow

Entries for this year's Shed of the Year competition have now closed and voting is due to start tomorrow. We'll keep you posted here naturally, but the best place for hot off the press updates is of course Shedblog and the readersheds.co.uk site itself so it's worth signing up for their RSS feed or email subscription. Shedblog has been putting together some interesting groups of themed sheds recently including this rather spectacular post on pub sheds (shed pubs?). Here's another example from the site, The Shubb It Inn by Carl, built from scratch for around £400, who says:

"What I now have is an excellent place to chill out and relax, read a book and listen to some music courtesy of the "Bartop Juke box". The kids love playing darts on a Sunday afternoon while drinking their shandy and I've even taken the wife out for drink and she doesn't have to drive home."

How do you light your shed?

Littlewaif's The Shed Chandelier is in the running for National Shed Week's Photo of the Year competition. Think you could do better? Then post your entry to the competition's Flickr pool and you'll be in the running...I also love littlewaif's Where I drink and her comment:

"This area of the shed is where the time zones differ, but are the same. The clock on the left works. The clock on the right, it is always happy hour."

National Shed Week - official poet appointed

Rogan Whitenails has been appointed the official poet of National Shed Week 2008. "I hope his wonderful musings can add some wossname to the world of sheds," says Uncle Wilco, organiser of National Shed Week. Here's Rogan's first offering:

The Rhyme-Botherer’s Garden Shed

Shedspla! my shed:
Just once, let me find shortbread
In the shortbread tin, not screws;
Let the bolts in the jam jars bruise
Easily!
Is white spirit as mild as the moisty
Mizzle of morn, when supped
From the gowpen of two hands cupped;
As scant in the mouth, as faint,
Ill-equipped to thin paint,
Though it thins the thirst well enough?

National Shed Week - the countdown begins...

The race is on to win the coveted Shed of the Year title which will be held this summer as part of the second National Shed Week. Organised by the internationally famous readersheds.co.uk, National Shed Week (which runs from July 7 until July 13 2008) will celebrate one of the cornerstones of British culture, the not so humble Garden Shed.

Can this year's sheddies beat the wonderful and unique sheds that we showcased in the inaugural Shed Week last year, including the amazing Shed of the Year 2007 which was a Roman Temple built by Tony Rogers? (pictured above). This year's judges are property guru Sarah Beeny, wind-up radio inventor Trevor Baylis, Professor of beach huts Kathryn Ferry, Treehugger's eco-architect Lloyd Alter, Uncle Wilco from readersheds.co.uk/Shedblog, and me.

Sheddies still have time to "Share their Sheds" at the readersheds.co.uk site and can enter their buildings on the website ready for the judging in late June.

This year we are very pleased to announce that one of the UK's leading online garden building companies, Garden Buildings Direct will be the official sponsor and shed partner for this year's Shed Week and will be providing the prize for the Shed of the Year Competition. The grand prize will total £500 and the winner will be able to choose products from Garden Buildings Direct or products from one of their sister websites selling extensive ranges of garden furniture, outdoor toys, fitness equipment and BBQ's.

This is the second year we have run the competition which pits wooden sheds against TARDISes, and garden offices against beach huts in a battle royal to win the title of Shed of the Year 2008.