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Apr 05
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Our Straw Bale House, One Year Ago

By Strawtron

concrete piers - batter boardOne year ago, our straw bale house was nothing more than a handful of holes dug in the ground. Now it’s got a completed timber frame, it is fully baled in and at least partly plastered over the interior and exterior, and half of the soil has been hauled up to the rooftop. The floor platform is insulated, we’re beginning to close in the porch, and I think I can say that things are looking pretty good coming into year two of building our timber frame and straw bale home.

rainbowThis year, we get to do more first coat plaster, but even more finish earthen and lime plaster, install finish floors upstairs and downstairs, close in the north porch and build our rustic kitchen, finish the roof, and build our attached greenhouse. Oh, and build the spiral staircase, and a handful of other finish work tasks.

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Apr 01
Love0

Spring Happens

By Uncategorized

tree

It never fails: as soon as the first warm days come around, it instantly feels like there’s about 1,000 things to do. Days earlier, when it may have been cold or even snowing, or just unpleasant or winter-like, the pressure was off to do anything “productive” and one could feel good about sitting inside, reading, carving a spoon, and talking about things to do at some point.

We’re at that time now — spring is peeking out, and the activities are moving outside more and more. I suspect this will be a fairly enjoyable spring, as we have plenty to do, but no deadly-strict deadlines to fret about each waking day. Read More

Mar 25
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The Best Way to Learn About Natural Building

By Natural Building Workshops

Natural Building Workshops

People often write me and ask how to get into or learn about natural building and living a more sustainable lifestyle. Unfortunately (?), the answer is fairly predictable, but all the same, it is worth addressing here. The answer is this: the best way to learn whatever you want to do is to get firsthand experience. Sorry to say, but it’s that simple.

When to comes to a specialized skill, there is no replacement for getting firsthand experience. Reading books and looking at images online is one thing, and one thing only — a mere taste, a slight dip of the spoon. All of that goes out the window when you try the thing (say, building) itself. Because putting an idea into practice is an entirely different experience from intellectualizing or daydreaming about it.

But that is the “business” I feel most passionate about, and want to encourage more than anything to the readers of this blog, to the people I meet, and to anyone who has an itch to do anything new. Go out there, get experience, create connections, and give it a try.

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Mar 23
Love1

Amazing post with all the goodies

By Food for thought

In varius varius justo, eget ultrices mauris rhoncus non. Morbi tristique, mauris eu imperdiet bibendum, velit diam iaculis velit, in ornare massa enim at lorem. Etiam risus diam, porttitor vitae ultrices quis, dapibus id dolor. Morbi venenatis lacinia rhoncus. Vestibulum tincidunt ullamcorper eros eget luctus. Nulla eget porttitor libero. Read More

Mar 22
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Easy, Tamper-Proof Compost Bin Plans

By Gardening
Compost Bin Plans

Rodent and dog-proof compost bin… for under $40

We’ve all got our shortcomings. Our compost bin situation has been severely lacking for… a few years, I’ll say. How embarrassing.  Let’s just say we were kinda lacking on the “bin” end of things for a while… until now. These great compost bin plans we came up with eliminate dogs and rodents from getting into our pile, allowing us to create soil fertility without the headache of critters messing things up! All it took was a roll of hardware cloth, and a bag of zip ties. I’m so pleased to have a functional compost bin that I just had to share this here. The whole thing costs under $40.

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Mar 16
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The Year of Mud Back in Full Swing

By Uncategorized
bugs

Yikes…

At least once a year, I spend several stressful hours troubleshooting a new website problem, at times hopelessly, and finally, at the brink of despair, a solution rises up like a phoenix that instantly alleviates the technical bug. Well, that is what just happened.

For the last month, any posts and updates to pages I have made to The Year of Mud were not publicly viewable… but all of that is ironed out now. You may see a few “new” posts here since February, and additionally, the 2013 Timber Frame Workshop details are fully viewable!

Thanks for your patience! You can imagine I’d much rather be outside building than scouring troubleshooting forums for answers all night, but it’s all important and worth it in the end.

More updates as they come. Spring is here!

Mar 06
Love0

Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear

Ambrose Redmoon Quote
Mar 04
Love0

Timber Frame Joinery: How to Make a Mortise By Hand

By Hand Tools, Timber Framing, Strawtron
Millers Falls Boring Machine

How to make a mortise with hand tools: boring machine and chisel

You can’t have a tenon without a mortise. They go together like peas and carrots. (Or insert your favorite “go together” cliche here.) Uh, anyway, I described how to cut a tenon by hand in a previous post, and in this article, I’ll describe the process for making a mortise in a timber by hand. A mortise is basically a slot for a tenon, which is later pegged to secure the joinery. It’s simple and timeless.

Mortises are arguably more difficult to make by hand than tenons. I’ll describe how to do it with a boring machine and chisel.

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Mar 02
Love0

Exciting Announcement Coming Soon

By Uncategorized

Timber

We’ve got an exciting announcement to make in the coming week. I’m holding out for now, but I can say that it you’re itching to get your natural building on later this summer, you’re going to enjoy the news we have to share.

Here are a couple clues, though. It’s an event that you can participate in, it involves creating wood chips, and… well, maybe you should just wait a few more days.

2013 is shaping up to be a big year!

(Photo credit: GrungeTextures via photopin cc)