Workshop participants will join three experienced natural builders in constructing a cob and strawbale garden wall and meditation studio in the backyard of a current house building project in a Downtown Durham neighborhood. This is an intensive, hands-on workshop, intended to teach participants the basics of cob and strawbale construction. In addition to building with cob and bales, we will cover making and applying earthen plasters, and integrating windows and doors into natural wall systems. Our schedule will also include discussions on design, siting, foundations, roof building, and passive solar thinking as well.

Instructors are a three-person crew, currently building a hybrid stud frame/post and beam/strawbale house. Two of the instructors are graduates of the Cob Cottage Company’s natural building apprenticeship program and have years of experience building with natural materials and hosting workshops. This workshop will focus on building the studio and garden wall, but there will be opportunity to discuss, explore, and learn from the house under construction on site. Greg is documenting the house project on his blog, at http://cobandon.blogspot.com/

The workshop will begin the morning of Saturday August 6th. Participants are encouraged to arrive on site Friday, especially those from out of town. Camping is available at the building site and three delicious, mostly vegetarian/vegan meals will be provided daily. The site is equipped with a kitchen, outhouse, and fire pit. The workshop will conclude early afternoon on Sunday August 14th.

The cost of the workshop is $500, due by July 30th.
Please contact Mike McDonough with any questions or to sign up at: mpmcdono@yahoo.com or (502) 381 5004.

This post was submitted by Michael McDonough.

Natural Cob Building with Spirit Workshop

Come join us build a unique classroom at the Ananda College of Living Wisdom. The structure will be made from a mixture of Cob, and Bale-Cob techniques. Bale-Cob is one of the fastest way to build using straw bales, and cob, as a structurally sound wall system. No strapping required.

* Learn Earth Plastering, Cob sculpturing, Natural flooring techniques w/ raidiant heat.

* Enjoy our beautiful forest campground in a substance free environment.

*Camp sites available or tent cabins for additional cost.

*Three delicious vegetarian meals per day, swimming pool, showers and indoor and outdoor bathrooms.

*Childcare available from 9am to 3pm.

* Optional daily led Yoga and Meditation classes.

* A spiritually uplifting environment with lovely meditation gardens, meditation temple, forest, and hiking trails. Ideal for connecting with spirit and nature.

This post was submitted by Pablo Loayza.

Join us for this third in a series of Natural Building workshops at Taproot Farm to build a small, whimsical artist cottage of straw and mud!

THIS WORKSHOP COVERS:

* Overview of strawbale construction, including recommended detailing
* Permitting issues and tips
* Hands-on experience of installation techniques
* Overview of natural clay plasters, including benefits and challenges, how to assess on-site materials for suitability, how to determine mixing ratio, and how to apply to strawbales
* Hands-on experience applying clay plaster to strawbale walls

Strawbale Workshop Announcement-pdf.pdf (193 KB)

This post was submitted by Beth and Tim Reese.

This workshop (held at Blue Rock Station Sustainable Living Farm in SE Ohio) is perfect for those folks who are thinking they might like to build a straw bale building one day – but are not yet ready to commit to spending their life’s savings and all their vacation time flying out west somewhere to get the total immersion program.

From start-to-finish we will learn all the skills necessary to build a small garden outbuilding – at the same time utilizing all the skills that you would use to build a much larger project. Sort of a “walk before you run approach.”

Many straw bale workshops focus heavily on conventional building techniques that incorporate straw bales as “fill.” Our projects focus more on the “green” in green building. We use recycled (and salvaged) materials, rammed earth tire foundations, earth plastering and a minimum of power tools.

Registration fee, $145. Call Blue Rock Station at 740-674-4300 for additional info and/or to register – or go online for more details at http://www.bluerockstation.com.

This post was submitted by Blue Rock Station.

During this 7-day workshop (located in SE Ohio) we will work on two different projects (one we start from scratch – and the “one in the oven” that allows us to do finish work without having to wait for several weeks to allow everything to dry).

This year we will build a 12 x 20 building with a living roof. We will also do finish work on the Dragon’s Lair (last May’s project, see photos at http:/www.bluerockstation.com).

Many straw bale workshops focus heavily on conventional building techniques that incorporate straw bales as “fill.” Our projects focus more on the “green” in green building. We use recycled (and salvaged) materials, rammed earth tire foundations, earth plastering and a minimum of power tools.
This basic project incorporates most of the skills and techniques that you will need to tackle much bigger things (like building your own Earthship or building that dream mansion out of straw bales). But the scale of our project is small enough for a beginning “green builder” to learn all the useful techniques for big or small projects – without being overwhelmed.

We will also incorporate lunchtime discussion topics, guest speakers and one off-site visit.

Registration fee, $475 (before May 1st), $545 (after May 1st). Call Blue Rock Station at 740-674-4300 for additional info or to register – or go online for more details at http://www.bluerockstation.com.

This post was submitted by Blue Rock Station.

Take advantage of the July 4th holiday weekend for this very special 3-DAY version (a bit more in depth) of our popular basic (usually 2-day) Straw Bale Weekend Workshop!

This workshop (held at Blue Rock Station Sustainable Living Farm in SE Ohio) is perfect for those folks who are thinking they might like to build a straw bale building one day – but are not yet ready to commit to spending their life’s savings and all their vacation time flying out west somewhere to get the total immersion program.

From start-to-finish we will learn all the skills necessary to build a small garden outbuilding – at the same time utilizing all the skills that you would use to build a much larger project. Sort of a “walk before you run approach.”

Many straw bale workshops focus heavily on conventional building techniques that incorporate straw bales as “fill.” Our projects focus more on the “green” in green building. We use recycled (and salvaged) materials, rammed earth tire foundations, earth plastering and a minimum of power tools.

Registration fee, $195. Call Blue Rock Station at 740-674-4300 for additional info and/or to register – or go online for more details at http://www.bluerockstation.com.

This post was submitted by Blue Rock Station.

August 7-13, 2011
Petrolia, CA
Instructor: Michael G. Smith

Learn to build your own energy-efficient natural home from inexpensive, healthy natural materials. In this hands-on workshop, we will be building a family home from cob (sculpted earth) and straw bales. We will also experiment with other natural wall systems including slipstraw or light straw clay and wattle and daub, as well as clay plasters. Slide presentations and videos place these techniques in context of the global tradition of natural building. The spectacular site is on the banks of the Mattole River, just 3 miles from the beach and the Lost Coast trailhead.

Course Fee & Registration: Cost of course is $650 per person, including on-site camping and all meals. 10% discount for full payment by July 7 and for families and friends registering together. Class size is limited to 20 students, so enroll early.

For more information or to register, contact Kristen Steele, kristenregina@gmail.com, 707-629-3403

This post was submitted by Michael G. Smith.

Building the Village of Hope
Natural building workshop
October 10-17 2010
Ecoart and the Ecological Institute of Greece invite you at Elpidochori village in Argolis, to experience a creative as well as educating week of community living focused on building using natural material. During this intensive workshop, we will focus on constructions made of straw bale and cob (mixture of sand, clay and straw) as well as green roofs. Covering topics such as design, foundation, drainage, masonry techniques, door and window installation, green roof construction e.t.c., and we will familiarize with the fundamental principles of natural building, while acquiring the basic skills required for anyone to start his own building.
The workshop instructors will be Vassilis Tsolakidis (straw bale, green roof) and Alexis Christakis (cob).

building the land of hope october 10 copy.jpg (43 KB)

This post was submitted by Alex Christakis.

Natural Building Weekend Workshops
Crow, OR (18 min from Eugene)

Aug. 14 & 15, 2010

The first weekend includes 2 full days of learning and developing Natural Building skills in a hands-on setting, working on a real building!

We will cover: -Structural cob and cob infill techniques
-Straw-flake infill for insulation
-Earthen architecture forms and details

Aug. 21 & 22, 2010

The second weekend can be taken alone but we highly recommend that you attend the first weekend session.

We will cover: -Earthen plasters
-Limewash finishes
-sculptural details

Cost for either workshop is $150, with a $50 discount if you take the first weekend class ($250 for both). Couples attending either/both classes will receive a %10 discount! There are 10 spaces available, please register by Aug 5th.

We provide: -tools and materials
-lunch on each day
-bathroom facilities, water, etc
-camping is available for $10 a night per person
-a ride to/from bus stop if needed.

Please leave a message for Micah at 541-844-6071

This post was submitted by Micah Camp.

This workshop will familiarize students with the basic family of natural building materials: clay or earth, straw, wood, and stone, and what can be accomplished with each alone and in combination with the others. At least half of each day is spent on hands-on building with a high ratio of experienced instructors. This year’s projects will focus on earthen infill techniques (slipstraw or light straw clay, slip-and-chip, clay wattle and wattle and daub) and on rough and finish earthen plasters. We will also build an earthbag retaining wall. Our site has examples of many other natural building techniques: cob, straw bale, cordwood masonry, adobe floors, round pole timber framing, living roofs, lime fresco, clay and casein paints, and much more. Lectures and discussions cover passive solar and other design principles for energy-efficient, compact natural homes. There will also be an extensive tour of the most complete natural building demonstration site on the West Coast, with an emphasis on natural materials harvesting, off-grid electrical generation, greywater reclamation, composting toilets, and more. Evening slide presentations and videos, a sauna with a dip in our pond, and wood-fired pizza from our earthen oven round out this 7-day intensive experience. The workshop begins Saturday evening the 7th and ends Saturday afternoon the 14th.

This post was submitted by Michael G. Smith.