Category

Natural Building Workshops

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

10,000 Pounds of Oak

By Timber Framing, Natural Building Workshops

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 Natural Building Workshops, Timber Framing


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
Love1

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
Love1

2017 Natural Building Essentials Workshop Photos

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

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
Love0

Fall is for Cob Benches & Outhouses

By Light Clay Straw, Cob Building, Natural Building Workshops
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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Aug 24
Love0

The Off-Grid Straw Bale Cabin: Workshop Photo Gallery

By Photos, Straw Bale Building, Natural Building Workshops
Straw Bale Workshop Site

Working on the site of our 2015 Straw Bale Workshop

I’m writing from the past for the future — I should be in Vermont as you read this. I scheduled this little post to self-publish so you’d have some fun photos to look at while I’m PDCing it up during this latter part of August.

Here’s a photo gallery and slideshow from our recent July Straw Bale Workshop in which we built the straw bale walls of a small, off-grid octagonal cabin in the Kentucky foothills. It’s always amazing to me to see the walls go up and instantly take the house to a whole new level of completion. I love the gradual defining of the space from digging the foundation trench, to building the frame and roof, and then the stacking of the walls themselves. Even once the straw bales are up, the house is still ultimately a ways away from actual “completion” (whatever that means), but my goodness it feels good.

Read ahead to see the evolution of the small straw bale home in the woods during our course!
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Jul 20
Love0

Beginning Days of Our 2015 Straw Bale Workshop

By Natural Building Workshops, Straw Bale Building
Off Grid Straw Bale House Site

The octagonal straw bale cabin, site of our 2015 Straw Bale Workshop

Yesterday was the finale of our 2015 Straw Bale Workshop outside Berea, Kentucky. Our team of participants made it through a week of straw bale building, clay plastering, and more than our fair share of rain. Despite the far less than ideal weather conditions, everyone stayed remarkably upbeat and we achieved a lot of good work. Apparently even record-breaking rain couldn’t stop us from having fun.

I am so grateful to our top notch team of participants who joined us this year! Here’s a look back at some of the construction work we accomplished this past week.

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