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Natural Building Workshops

Jan 30
Love12
2019 natural building workshops

2019 Workshop Schedule is Up!

By Natural Building Workshops

2019 natural building workshops

In case you haven’t seen it already, our 2019 Natural Building Workshop schedule is up. We’re trying something slightly different with scheduling this year. Each class is happening around a national holiday, so hopefully folks can use fewer vacation days to join us. During Memorial Day weekend, we’re hosting our Natural Building Essentials class. And during the week of 4th of July, we have another 7 day Timber Frame Workshop. Check out the details here and drop a comment with any questions! Hope to see you soon.

Jul 27
Love4

An Exercise in Visualization

By Timber Framing, Natural Building Workshops

dealing with irregular timbers

We just wrapped up our 7 day Timber Frame Workshop and I’m finally catching my breath. Whew. Timber framing has a steep learning curve so it’s not the kind of thing you can easily jump into, willy-nilly. It takes some warming up and getting used to lots of new terms, tools, methodologies, etc.

Timber framing is, first and foremost, an exercise in visualization. Looking at plans and applying layout to a timber, imagining a timber oriented in the building — these are all skills that take some time to hone. It’s a totally different way to approach building the bones of a house because everything is laid out and cut in advance of the pieces being assembled. So it’s immensely helpful to be able to see things in your mind, before they exist in front of you. Essential, even.

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Jun 27
Love7
timber-frame---green-white-oak-timbers

10,000 Pounds of Oak

By Natural Building Workshops, Timber Framing

timber-frame---green-white-oak-timbers

White oak is impressively heavy. Green white oak timbers are that much heavier. Today we got our order of white oak, pine, and sassafras, in-between massive bouts of rain. There was flash flooding for most of the day except for a tiny window in which we were able to get 10,000+ pounds of timber on-site and loaded off the trailer. I’m thrilled this day is behind me now. Jeez. Onto the next step! (All of the wood is not pictured here, by the way.)

p.s. The “wedding tent” is still going strong after all these years! Granted, we replaced the canopy once, but… this thing has been a lifesaver for shade and rain protection during our workshops. So goofy looking. Maybe a barn is in order next year?

p.p.s. Oh, how do I know it’s about 10,000 pounds of wood? This handy dandy lumber weight calculator, of course.

Jun 16
Love7
10x10 timber frame workshop preview

Sneak Peak: 10×10 Timber Frame Pavilion

By Timber Framing, Natural Building Workshops


We’re just about one month out from the start of our July Timber Frame Workshop. Happily, the pieces are starting to fall into place. This year we’re collaborating with Brice of Timber Frame HQ on this very simple and beautiful pavilion design. Brice is doing the drawing work — we’ll have super tight plans that students will be referencing during the course. I’m excited to have these plans available. Clear drawings contribute to a better understanding of the entire layout process.

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Jan 11
Love1
natural building workshop berea kentucky

2018 Natural Building Workshops Schedule is Live

By Natural Building Workshops

natural building workshop berea kentucky

In case you haven’t noticed, I recently posted our full 2018 Natural Building Workshops schedule. This year we have two dates for our popular Natural Building Essentials Workshop, and one Timber Frame Workshop in July. It’s hard to believe, but this is our seventh year hosting classes and year three at our homestead already. (And it’s year ten for this blog, too. Whoa.)

If you’ve been planning to come out and join us, this would be a great year to do so. We find inspiration and room for little improvements every year, and with each passing season there are more projects to see here at our land and elsewhere in the community at large.

Have a look at the full schedule here!

 

Oct 04
Love2

Homesteading Rules and Realities Part 2

By Natural Building Workshops, Homesteading, South Slope Farm

South Slope Farm rainbow

The number one rule of trying to maintain a homestead seems to be this: there’s always something else you could be doing. Even when there’s a lull, really, it’s just relative to the busier times… because it’s not that there’s nothing to do, it’s just that stuff won’t fall to bits if it doesn’t happen this second. Thankfully, April and I are getting better at not taking on too much at once, and having a toddler has certainly been helping us to hone that skill. We joke that we operate at 40% capacity with Hazel in tow. Well, it’s actually not a joke as much as it is the truth. Naturally, priorities are different now.

Where am I going with this? Well, in our second year on this land, the deeper realities of being a landowner/land steward/enter your preferred term here is definitely settling in. It’s a pendulum really. One moment I feel like there’s no way we can keep things up, and then the joy of even the smallest bit of progress washes my fears away… only to be repeated again and again.

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Sep 27
Love2

2017 Natural Building Essentials Workshop Photos

By Cob Building, Natural Building Workshops, Cob Oven, Clay Plaster, Photos

cob stomping mixing

We recently wrapped up our September Natural Building Essentials Workshop. Fourteen folks came out to participate, traveling from Texas, Florida, Kansas, Illinois, and beyond. It was an enjoyable ephemeral community for the week — everyone was eager to jump in the mud and help out. I enjoy this workshop format because it’s a chance to spend some quality time with the basic building blocks of a natural home — clay, sand, and straw.

Read ahead to view a photo gallery of the workshop!

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Sep 06
Love1

Fall is for Cob Benches & Outhouses

By Cob Building, Natural Building Workshops, Light Clay Straw
Framing the outhouse

Putting roof decking on the new outhouse

Our first official natural building project on the land this year is an outhouse. Ha! I kinda love that. Right now we’re in the midst of framing a small two stall outhouse that will be one of the site projects for work & learning during our upcoming Natural Building Essentials workshop. This outhouse is going to get a pretty special treatment in the form of light clay straw walls and a clay plaster finish. The finished product should be pretty de-luxe.

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Jan 16
Love0

2016 Workshop Schedule is Up!

By Natural Building Workshops

13537433894_3d8109bd16_o

These past few weeks, we’ve been busy planning our Natural Building Workshops schedule. 2016 is a particularly exciting year because this is the very first time we’ll be hosting courses at our new homestead location outside Berea, Kentucky. I’ve been anticipating this day for several years now, and it’s finally happening. The Year of Mud’s new headquarters will be the source of a lot of amazing building activity and workshops for years to come.

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