looking for ideas for "found" space

Gail H
Gail H Posts: 359 ✭✭✭✭

My son cleaned out the area under our 20'x20' or so addition. As a result, I now have a 20'x20' area to "play" with. I will try to describe it adequately and look forward to any ideas you may come up with for its use, particularly for food production.

Most of the north side of the area backs up to the garage, so it's protected from winter winds. There is a tiny bit of protection from east winds as well where a bit of the house juts out. The area has standing head room- about six feet, so not a lot, but some. The open sides all have lattice work around them and there are quite a few plants and shrubs, especially on the south side. The lattice work is flimsy and couldn't be counted on to keep animals safe or enclosed. I have seen quite a few snakes in there including large eastern rat snakes.

There is natural light coming in the lattice work, but it's pretty dim light. There is one outdoor electrical outlet in the wall on the north side.

We are in USDA zone 7A, so are winters are pretty mild, but can go into single digits on occasion. Summers are humid, but we haven't seen 100* F in several summers. The sun wouldn't be beating down on the area, so while warm, it shouldn't be stifling.

Before the addition was built, I believe the area was just lawn or gravel, with a built in planter to one side. The above ground oil tank was also there, but it has been removed and it never leaked.

So far I've toyed with raising rabbits. Since there is an outlet, I could keep them cool with a fan if needed. I also thought about mushroom logs. Any other suggestions are appreciated!

Comments