OUR HOSTS, LOCATION & PROJECT  Yubarrio was formed by a group of friends in 2015 with the intention to create a diverse little village devoted to enjoying and caring for the land. With a motto of “slow and steady,” the folks on the land are carefully building bike trails to the Yuba River, reducing overcrowding and fuel loads in the far-ranging woods, milling bug-killed trees into timbers for carbon-negative buildings, growing a bounty of herbs for medicine and food for…

All of our Natural Building Workshops are led and facilitated by the builder of a 900 sq.ft. split level Cob Home.  This home was built in 5 months during 2016.  About 80% of it was built by one person – your workshop instructor – on his own.  He had help putting up the floor and roofing beams as well as the giant windows and skylights, but 90% of the cobbing was done alone.  That’s the power of this technique that…

Dates: August 26 – August 29, 2019 Location: Keystone Heights, Florida Come and join us in Florida for our next Introduction to Cob Workshop! We will be constructing a cob bench and covered sitting area. A perfect project for beginners and experts alike! You will get the knowledge to build cob projects scaling from smaller things, such as cob ovens and benches, up to large projects like homes and buildings. You will also get the opportunity to experience a completed…

More fun with clay, straw, and sticks! This is one of a series of comprehensive workshops in which we will be constructing a hybrid natural building using many site-sourced materials and permaculture principles. Building on what we learned in the previous workshop, we will branch out into other earthen wall systems and begin the finishing process. • Make adobe blocks from clay soil mixed with straw or other fibers • Build different styles of earthen arches, with and without forms •…

This is the last of a series of comprehensive workshops in which we will construct a hybrid natural building using many site-sourced materials and permaculture principles. This workshop will focus on inexpensive, efficient ways to heat space and water that you can construct yourself. Learn the essential points to clean combustion. Why Batch Heaters? Differences and similarities between Batch Rocket Mass Heaters and classic, J-tube Rocket Mass Heaters. Learn how thermal mass improves heating and how, with the bell system, thermal mass can be utilized flexibly…

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to learn natural building from leading experts at one of Japan’s premier Permaculture education sites. In this course you will learn a wide range of natural wall building techniques including Cob, Straw Bale, Light Straw Clay, Light Rice Husk Lime, Wattle-and-Daub, Clay Wattle, and Earthbag foundations.  Daily hands-on building practice on actual buildings in progress. Lectures cover testing clay soils, wall system selection, materials testing, passive solar design, composting toilets, and more. Language:  English with Japanese…

This is a unique opportunity to learn traditional Japanese plastering and contemporary earth and lime finishes at one of Japan’s premier Permaculture sites. An intensive training including history, plastering procedures, materials and tools, with an emphasis on plastering fundamentals. Techniques include: Shikkui (lime, hemp, seaweed glue) Nami-Otsu (colored clay, lime and hemp) Kirikaeshi (fine clay, sand and straw) Nakanuri (earthen brown coat) Arakabe (clay/chopped straw) Takekomai (traditional Japanese bamboo lattice) Language: English and Japanese Participation Fee: 75,000JPY (if paid by June 1 or…

Overview This is the most comprehensive workshop you can find. Decades of teaching on four different continents has helped us design this rich learning experience,  giving students the tools they need to become confident earthen builders. Earth is the mother of all building materials. For millennia, and all over the world, people have used earth to build beautiful, simple, efficient and inexpensive homes. It’s plentiful, ecological and non-toxic. Plus, it can’t burn, won’t rot and is much simpler to build with than…