Workshops

Build a Cob Oven in Lafayette, Ca

[ May 25, 2013 to May 27, 2013. ]

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Starting with foundation on Day 1 (2:30 to 7:30) and then building the oven on Day 2, and sculpting and plastering the oven on Day 3….we will have a great time together on this magical land next to the Briones Regional Park. We will also start building a cob compost toilet cabana.  [...]

Design and Build with Fast Cob

[ September 7, 2013 12:00 am to September 14, 2013 12:00 am. ]
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This 6 day workshop will include:
- Natural Building Design: working with nature to make long lasting, beautiful structures;
- Fast Cob: how to mix it and build with it, incorporating windows and doors, electrical and plumbing;
- Under Cob Floor Heating, a traditional Korean method, now in North America!;
- Finishing Natural Buildings: we use a [...]

Building a Cob Cottage in Santa Cruz

[ May 10, 2013 to May 12, 2013. ]

This 3 day workshop will teach you all the basics of building your first simple cob cottage by listening to lectures and working on an in-process 240 round foot cottage in the Royal Oaks rural neighborhood a few miles south of Watsonville. We will be focusing on building cob walls, pouring a first floor coat, [...]

Design and Build with Fast Cob

[ July 27, 2013 to August 3, 2013. ]

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This 6 day workshop will include:
- Natural Building Design: working with nature to make long lasting, beautiful structures;
- Fast Cob: how to mix it and build with it, incorporating windows and doors, electrical and plumbing;
- Under Cob Floor Heating, a traditional Korean method made real in North America;
- Finishing Natural Buildings: we use [...]

Design and Build with Fast Cob

[ August 24, 2013 to August 31, 2013. ]

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This 6 day workshop will include:
- Natural Building Design: working with nature to make long lasting, beautiful structures;
- Fast Cob: how to mix it and build with it, incorporating windows and doors, electrical and plumbing;
- Under Cob Floor Heating, a traditional Korean method made real in North America;
- Finishing Natural Buildings: we use [...]

Yoga, Meditation, Natural Building with Spirit

[ August 11, 2013 to August 17, 2013. ]

Join us this summer, and learn how you can build your own natural building, practice yoga, meditation, and feed your spirit. Workshop participants will get hands on experience with rock-bag foundations, making cob, building a cob bond beam, building bale cob walls, timber framing, installing an earthen roof, and working with earth plasters. We will [...]

Yoga, Meditation, Natural Building with Spirit

[ June 2, 2013 to June 8, 2013. ]

Join us this summer, and learn how you can build your own natural building, practice yoga, meditation, and feed your spirit. Workshop participants will get hands on experience with rock-bag foundations, making cob, building a cob bond beam, building bale cob walls, timber framing, installing an earthen roof, and working with earth plasters. We will [...]

Yoga, Meditation, Natural Building with Spirit

[ September 22, 2013 to September 28, 2013. ]

Join us this summer, and learn how you can build your own natural building, practice yoga, meditation, and feed your spirit. Workshop participants will get hands on experience with rock-bag foundations, making cob, building a cob bond beam, building bale cob walls, timber framing, installing an earthen roof, and working with earth plasters. We will [...]

Introduction to Cob Building

[ May 18, 2013 to May 21, 2013. ]

Introduction to Cob Building Workshop

May 18 – 21, 2013

Cob building combines clay sediment, sand, fiber, and water, which is then hand sculpted to form walls, benches, ovens, and fireplaces. Cob building makes use of readily available, affordable, non-toxic materials to build beautiful, organic structures.

The course is appropriate for both first-time builders and for professionals in [...]

Earthen Oven Building Workshop

[ June 15, 2013 to June 16, 2013. ]

Learn to build your own earthen bread and pizza oven using natural materials from your backyard. Using wood, stone, clay and straw, we will explore the entire construction process from foundation to roof. Class sessions will be comprised of hands-on construction, lecture, and presentations covering building fundamentals that include structure, moisture protection, materials selection, heating [...]

Intensive Straw Bale & Cob Round House Building Workshop

[ March 9, 2013; ]
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Join us for a fun hands-on, educational Straw Bale & Cob Workshop in the natural roughness of the Serra da Cabreira mountains in Northern Portugal. Together we will be building a small comfortable Round House from scratch, using natural techniques and materials.

In this intensive 7 day workshop you will be learning about house [...]

From the Ground Up with COB & Kids Cob Camp

[ June 25, 2013 to June 29, 2013. ]

Natural Stone Foundation,
Building Cob Walls / Solar
Sculptural Cob & Furniture
Natural Plaster / Lime Plaster

Natural Stone Foundation
- Site Selection, Site Prep, & Establish Drainage
- Choose Materials & Build a Rubble Trench
- Prep Stones, Slake Lime, & Make Lime Mortar

We will build a lime mortared foundation suitable for a cob structure. You will learn everything you need [...]

Building the Complete Cob and Timber Cottage

[ May 11, 2013 to May 24, 2013. ]

This fourteen-day building intensive will offer a complete introduction to all the skills you’ll need to complete a cob cottage from the foundation to the roof. This workshop offers a unique blend of construction experience in the fundamentals of building cob walls as well as equally important but frequently overlooked details such as plasters, floors, [...]

Natural Building Essentials: Building with Cob

[ May 11, 2013 to May 16, 2013. ]

This workshop is a comprehensive introduction to all the basic skills involved in constructing any cob building. In this workshop we will build a stone foundation for a cob building, mix cob both by foot and with equipment, build cob walls, install window and door frames, learn about roofs for cob buildings and much more. [...]

Build a Cob Oven Weekend in Santa Cruz

[ May 4, 2013 to May 5, 2013. ]
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In Happy Valley, Santa Cruz on Erika’s Ranch, we will learn how to make a cob oven over the weekend, with foundation in place. We will also learn how it works and bake pizzas on Sunday!

Lunch included. Free onsite camping available.

Please register through Paypal at above email address or on website.