My past called me and the best part is......

About a month ago the phone rang and a lady asked "Are you the Gerry Krueger whose garden benches were featured in Better Homes and Gardens in 2003?"  I assured her I was the very same Gerry Krueger... Well she said... her sister's 50th birthday was soon and she still had the article and  wanted to make her sister a bench like mine as a special surprise and did I have a plan she could use... I knew I had a copy of the plan on a floppy disc somewhere (remember floppy discs?) and I would look...  Well I found a copy and emailed it off to her.

Just a bit about the benches.... After the first season we were open to the public I discovered people stayed and shopped longer if they had somewhere to sit and rest in the garden... So I set out to build a dozen benches that winter...  Wood was no problem as we had torn down the old wood corral and all the milking and horse stalls in the barn.  What I needed was a plan that was SIMPLE and would be strong and forgiving with old lumber.  No fancy joinery and it was put together with heavy duty lag bolts and lag screws.

The key element to my plan was the end section.  It was simple and identical in every single bench.  The only difference between the benches was the back section which I varied from bench to bench.  I built twenty four end sections and twelve backs that winter and in the spring I added seats and just bolted them together.  I added 10-12 each year over the next couple winters.

In 2001 my rose garden was featured in Better Homes and Gardens and the photographer fell in love with all the benches and asked if they could come back and do another feature just on the benches....which they did in 2003.

So I was so touched that Connie G. had not only kept that article all those years, she had also taken the time to track me down nine years later.  And she did indeed build a bench for her sister's birthday and yesterday sent me a picture of her beautiful bench.  AND THE BEST PART??????  She built this bench with old lumber from her grandmother's chicken coop...  Now you know I was doing a happy dance all over the garden all day...  Thank you Connie for sending the picture and remembering the article...

And just in case any of you out there are thinking of a simple bench for your garden...here is my plan for the end pieces....then just send me a picture.  Remember... no wimpy nails... Lag screws and lag bolts.