Mo and Rick apply some earthen plaster
We’ve been having a great time during our 2012 Straw Bale Workshop. The students have really taken to working with bales, and most recently, mixing and applying earthen plaster. People just love the mud.
I love working with our students, and again, it will be very sad to see everyone go home. We’ve gotten an incredible amount of work done in just one week.
April puts the first bale into place in our new home
It’s on! Here’s April putting in the very first straw bale into our new house. The Straw Bale Workshop crew is doing great, and we’re knee deep in building… people are having a good time, despite the high heat. More to come!
Our newly erected compound roof frame!
Progress is sweet. I have never worked so hard in my life. Physically, and mentally, even.
It is sheer exhaustion, but looking up at the timber frame in the morning light seems to make it all worth while. Getting compliments from friends and neighbors, and smiles from strangers coming into the village must mean we are doing something right, too.
Getting these compound roof rafters installed on the timber frame was a highlight.
More later.
The Year of Mud's Straw Bale Workshop is soon approaching!
Only two short weeks remain until our Straw Bale Workshop begins! From July 22 – August 2, we will be hosting our last natural building workshop of the year, a 10 day course dedicated to straw bale house construction. Come and learn all the ins and outs of working with straw bales and natural plasters at Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage in Missouri!
A few more participant spaces still remain — apply now if you want to get in on our last natural building workshop of the year. It’s not too late.
p.s. This weekend, a local farmer brought us 300 straw bales from his property, seven miles away. How cool is it that our walls were grown in a field less than 10 miles away?
Lovely Millers Falls Boring Machine Bits from Jim Bode
There are a wealth of interesting antique woodworking hand tools out there in the world, and thankfully Jim Bode has a great online shop devoted to preserving and reselling some of these beautiful items. I recently received 3 lovely drill bits for our Millers Falls boring machine, a 2″, 1 1/2″, and a unique 1″ bit, all lovingly sharpened and cleaned, and a sheer pleasure to use for the first time. Wow!
Hi there, I’m Ziggy. In 2008, I launched The Year of Mud while building my first natural home. This website is a collection of personal stories and experiences building with clay, straw, and wood over the past 15+ years. A few of the things that get me fired up are natural plasters, timber framing, & Japanese architecture. In 2012, we started offering Natural Building Workshops, so you can learn essential hands-on skills to build your own natural home.
