Easily overlooked and often underappreciated, the humble shed serves many purposes on homesteads and farms. Not only are sheds extremely functional, they are typically low cost, and fast and easy to build. Often they can be built in a weekend or two, easily modified or extended later, or even taken apart and the materials used for something else. To keep costs to a minimum, you can build with recycled materials or build with poles from a nearby forest. Sheds make good test structures, where you can try out new building methods at low cost and low risk to determine what works best for your situation. You can develop your skills on something small and simple, and then if it makes sense take on larger projects using what you’ve learned. Most sheds in rural areas are exempt from building codes, which is one less thing to deal with. While modern farms often have large, expensive sheds, for this article we’ll primarily consider small, less expensive sheds for do-it-yourselfers who are setting up a sustainable place in the country.
