Courses June 2012, not far from Carmarthen: Henge of roundhouse being built in Bath, March 2012. The Shifty Singers sing in the Bath roundhouse at the end of week 3: Here is a video from that course showing the making of a reciprocal frame roof. Roundhouses The best way of building a roundhouse is in a group, and the best way to learn how to do it is in a group. There have been three courses in the first half of 2013. The second was the fire circle near Cardigan. Here we are - photo by Elena Mia Fortuny: There are no more courses definitely planned for 2013, but there is a small course for the Welsh language Urdd centre near the West Wales coast in October, and a grand project to make a roundhouse for a big bread oven, and the first work on a roundhouse in France in August/September 2014 so email me if you want to be sent info. Pictures and videos from courses We had a great time building the roundhouses of cobwood and strawbale at Plan-It Earth. Here is a little stop motion film of the building:
14 Characteristics of Cob Homes - This Cob House A cob home will have a very distinct and unique quality to it that you will not find among conventional homes. Living in a cob house is more than just abiding in a shelter. It includes a unique experience that is both uplifting and healthy. Here are some concepts and advantages of cob homes to consider: Small Cob homes are known to be small and size efficient. Cob homes are also labor intensive to construct and they are often times built by the owners. Local Building with cob falls under the umbrella of “Natural Building.” Artistic People are drawn to cob homes in large part due to their beauty and creative designs. Natural The main ingredients for making cob are: clay, sand, and straw. Social Building a cob home can involve your community and friends to come together in the construction. High Standards A house made out of cob is actually a high standard home. Energy Efficient Cob is a “thermal mass” that absorbs sunlight and warms the building over the course of the day. Owner Built Healthy
VIDEO: Amazing Recycled Bicycle Machines Bicycle recycling is nothing new. But a Guatemalan nonprofit is turning trashed bicycle parts into innovative, electricity-free machines that you have to see to believe. Based in San Andrés Itzapa, Guatemala, Maya Pedal Asociación accepts donated bikes from the U.S. and Canada, which volunteers either recondition to sell or break down to create a range of pedal-powered machines called Bicimáquinas. Bet You’ll Love: VIDEO: Soda Bottles Upcycled into Solar Light Bulbs Founded by engineer and bicycle enthusiast Carlos Marroquin, the organization harnesses pedal power to perform a number of tasks that would otherwise require electricity, which is often unavailable in smaller villages. Each Bicimáquina is hand-crafted in Maya Pedal’s warehouse in San Andrés Itzapa, where volunteers operate a bike repair service and build everything from tile makers to nut shellers to blenders – all made from old bicycles. READ: How to Start a Bike Program in Your City Homepage Image: Maya Pedal Asociación
What Inspired This Man May Surprise You...What He Created From It...Extremely Gorgeous! Caves have a natural beauty to them, as anyone who has been to Carlsbad Caverns can tell you, but Ra Paulette is an expert. Artist Ra Paulette has spent the last decade excavating tunnels and passageways, and carving designs and benches in the sandstone cliffs in northern New Mexico. He spends his time carving a sandstone cave that he found, turning it into a wonderful subterranean space full of light. With no one but his dog for company, Paulette created different designs and styles for every cavern, giving each one very specific qualities and textures. It is a unique creation that will blow away your mind! The thought of spending so much time underground without human contact might make some feel claustrophobic, but to this artist, it’s a calling. Credits: CBS Sunday Morning Share these amazing creations with others!
The Most Beautiful Green Home Building Construction Project Ever? Design Published on April 9th, 2009 | by ziggy April 9th, 2009 by ziggy My jaw dropped when I first watched this video tour of a beautiful owner-built green building construction project in Oregon. This particular green building is made entirely out of cob, a mixture of clay, sand, and straw. Meka Bunch of Wolf Creek, Oregon built this stunning cob house over a four year period. Check out the video and photos of Meka’s cob cottage for yourself: [youtube= This couch is made of cob and features wood storage tucked underneath, right next to the stove. The kitchen features many shelves and nooks built directly into the cob walls, and also includes a small compost chute. The wood stove is surrounded by cob for thermal mass, and includes a warm nook with shelf to culture yogurt. Gorgeous custom-made cob staircase. The north porch of Meka’s cob cottage. I must say that Meka’s cob house design is one of my favorite projects that I’ve seen. About the Author
Sustainable Alternative Homes - Freeing Humans For Further Evolution Source: www.themindunleashed.org | Original Post Date: December 11, 2013 – I would like to invite you to relax. I’m guessing you are doing some reading or web-surfing to free your mind after a long work day. Or maybe it’s your day off and you are entertaining yourself with Facebook and online news. For most of us, life is a constant movement from or to. Generally we base our schedules and the bulk of our lives around tasks we must do in order to sustain our lives and survive and this often leaves very limited time and energy for the things we actually desire or have passion for. It seems on this cusp of human transformation, nearing the end of 2013, the topics of conversation, especially in the worldwide ‘conscious’ community, are often veering in the directions of human enlightenment, breaking free of the system, and DNA reactivation- remembering and reclaiming who we are as BEINGS. One project in particular that is especially exciting is called EarthShips.
Introduction to Permaculture - 18 part webinar with Bill Wilson of Midwest Permaculture Interplanting and Beyond, An Excerpt from Gaia’s Garden // May 1st, 2012 // No Comments » // Uncategorized This coming Sunday, May 6, is International Permaculture Day! To celebrate, this week we’ll be sharing some classic excerpts from one of our perennial bestsellers, Gaia’s Garden by Toby Hemenway. Permaculture is more than just a way to garden, it applies systems-thinking to every facet of our relationship to the earth and each other. Using different veggies’ strengths and weaknesses to avoid competition and maybe even get them to help each other out is called interplanting. The following is an excerpt from Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture by Toby Hemenway. Vegetable gardeners have some experience in creating plant communities. Monocultures deplete the soil, provide a sumptuous feast for pests, and dull the senses. One simple interplanting scheme mixes onions, carrots, and lettuce in the same garden bed. See also:
What It's Actually Like To Buy A $500 House In Detroit Permaculture & Forest Gardening - eBooks Previews, Exerpts Archive // May 1st, 2012 // agriculture With information on mushroom cultivation, sowing a fruit forest, alternative ways to keep livestock, and more… Sepp Holzer farms steep mountainsides in Austria 1,500 meters above sea level. His farm is an intricate network of terraces, raised beds, ponds, waterways and tracks, well covered with productive fruit trees and other vegetation, with the farmhouse neatly nestling amongst them. This is in dramatic contrast to his neighbors’ spruce monocultures. In this book, Holzer shares the skill and knowledge acquired over his lifetime. In Sepp Holzer’s Permaculture readers will learn: How he sets up a permaculture systemThe fruit varieties he has found best for permaculture growingHow to construct terraces, ponds, and waterwaysHow to build shelters for animals and how to work with them on the landHow to cultivate edible mushrooms in the garden and on the farmand much more! See also Documentary Film: 40 hours of Free Permaculture Webinar:
Cob House Designs & Natural Building - This Cob House Free eBooks Archive - Permaculture Media Blog See also: On the Duty of Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau - Civil Disobedience is an essay by Henry David Thoreau that was first published in 1849. It argues that people should not permit governments to overrule or atrophy their consciences, and that people have a duty to avoid allowing such acquiescence to enable the government to make them the agents of injustice. Thoreau was motivated in part by his disgust with slavery and the Mexican-American War. Plants For A Future: Survey and Research Project on 'The Field' - A report is now available of the recently completed survey and research project on the 'The Field', the experimental site of Ken and Addy Fern ( Plants For A Future founders) in Cornwall, where they carried out research and provided information on edible and otherwise useful plants suitable for growing outdoors in a temperate climate. Best of the Permaculture Drylands Magazine - Now Online!