A Soulful Potting Bench

Better Half and I spent the "better half" of a day recently building this utilitarian potting bench, which fairly brims with history.  She was designed for dirty work. Hers will be a hard life.  She will sit in the elements after her photo shoot in the garage.  She will never look this good again. 

 

I have yearned for a potting bench for years.  My yearning usually takes place when I am awkwardly potting plants on the uneven stone wall that surrounds the garden or as I kneel in the pea gravel, tiny pebbles digging into the flesh of my knees.  This year, however, I began to yearn early.

As Better Half and I drove to pick up sod (another post in itself), I began to design a potting bench. For ease, the bench would be constructed of all 2 x 4s, with finished measurements of 48 x 21 1/2 x 36.  4 legs, each 34 1/2 inches high, would be enclosed by two aprons or skirts on which the top and shelf would sit.  Easy enough.  I chose pressure treated wood because the bench would sit outside and because I did not want to spend a fortune for cedar. After all, the bench was designed for work.

The initial plans, hatched Saturday morning, were tossed to the wayside by Sunday midmorning, thanks to the intervention of Better Half.  I will be eternally grateful for his intervention.

Better Half remarked that he had salvaged some 4 x 4s, real oak ancient 4 x 4s, from the old grain scales on the farm. The beefy timbers formed the bed over which tons and tons of grain wagons and tractors rumbled. I stood on those timbers while pregnant with my first son to allow my husband to weigh me.  I did not weigh a ton, but it sure felt like it..

My curiosity was aroused, so a quick trip to the farm was made to inspect 4 x 4s.  They were perfect. Stout. Sturdy. Aged. Grey  

Here they are after having been cut to 34 1/2 inches.  Aren't they gorgeous? (And remember, measure twice, cut once.  We didn't..)  There was no way in the world I intended to wrap those gorgeous legs in common treated 2 x 4s. 

 A walk to the last almost standing barn on the farm revealed a wealth of weather battered lumber, protected well by more poison ivy than I have ever seen in one place.  Carefully, we were able to harvest enough boards for the aprons, both top and bottom.

Rather than sitting the pressure treated boards on top of the apron, we added three 2 x 4 supports to the inside of the apron and recessed the top boards to the level of the apron top.  While a general plan had been developed for this project, most of the construction was done "on the fly", so it is impossible to give step by step directions.

While we were salvaging barn wood and beams, I noticed  a pile of pickets from the old first fence on The North Forty.  I thought they would make a great lower shelf, having the same weathered appearance as the barn wood and aprons..

  The rounded picket ends and the nail holes added even more character.  Better Half even saved the screws from the old fence and used them to affix the shelf to the apron.  The old fence holds a dear place in my heart because it was one of the projects I completed with my dad many years ago.

Once the top and shelf were attached it was time to figure out how to recess the blue tub into the top.  I created a paper template tracing the outside of the basin, then cutting it down to account for the size of the lip.

 The circle was traced onto the wood and Better Half patiently cut the circle with a jigsaw.

Voila!  It fits!  Check out the beautiful knot and pattern on the front of the apron!

A little styling and then it's time for photos.  From the side.  From the back. 

 I just can't get enough of this beauty.  

And now, my soulful potting bench as she does the work for which she was intended.