Cob Workshops

SUMMER WORKTRADE IN ASHEVILLE
2017-05-15 11:00 - 2019-05-15 11:00 (America/Denver) | Ashevillage, 80 Buchanan Ave., Asheville, NC, 28801, United States
[SUMMER WORKTRADE IN ASHEVILLE] Come live, learn, work & grow with us! Beautiful Eco-Urban Homestead & Goddess Sanctuary. Downtown Asheville neighborhood. Bordering 60 acres of woods & trails. Awesome community of women.
HANDS-ON: Gardening + site maintenance + general tasks. Give 4 hours work/day. Get a place to camp on site, gardening & herbalism classes, organic goodies from the gardens, wifi, laundry & a naturally-treated hot tub!
ELIGIBILITY: You must be responsible, clean, tidy & have some gardening/farming background. No smoking, drinking, toking.
DETAILS & APPLICATION >> www.ashevillage.org/worktrade
#asheville #livelearngrow #ashevillage #ashevillagers #ashevillagesanctuary

A Cob Refuge in the Mountains of Chile
2019-02-10 - 2019-03-24 | La Jungla, Chillán, Chillán, Chile
PROJECT & HOST
We will build a 15m2 refuge on this beautiful expanse of wilderness for shelter, comfort and solitude away from the cities and people and close to Nature and Wildlife. The land called “La Jungla” is in the hands of our host brothers Nicolas (24), Lucas (26) and Matias (31) Pimentel and their father, Mario.
The refuge will be the only structure in this area. The only other next small building is located a 30-minute walk westwards. The Pimentel family is very excited to host a Cob workshop on this Sacred Land to keep the footprint light while sharing this pristine space with a well-intentioned and environmentally-conscious community who will add positive energy and a beautiful harmonious earthen structure to the wild landscape.
Nicolas Pimentel has initiated the invitation for the workshop after attending several CruzinCobGlobal workshops as student (Azores) and assistant (Colorado) and feeling inspired to host. Nicolas is a sustainable architecture student and has studied in Portugal and Chile to earn his Bachelor’s and Master’s which will be completed shortly before the workshop begins. While Nicolas enjoys studying and learning design, art and green building, he is also a world traveler and Spiritual Nature Lover, musician, poet, and artist. Nicolas is an excellent cob builder and has a contagious u
Lucas, Matias and Nico
nusual sense of humor and laugh you will definitely enjoy. He will be the Cob Assistant for the workshop while his brothers and father focus on hosting.
Nico’s older brother Lucas is also doing architecture school in Santiago and Matias, the oldest, has been living on the land for the past year and is practicing a sustainable and self-sufficient lifestyle. Matias has also participated in Earthship building in Argentina and Uruguay and the three brothers share a love for the land and the objective of building a sustainable space for tourism and workshops, like an Earth School !
LOCATION
(written by our Host Nico)
I am so excited and happy to share this land we Call La Jungla with a beautiful new Cob Family! And it is so big that there will be plenty of activities! My brother Lucas is a great guide and he knows alot about local and native plants. We will be able to swim everyday, have bonfires, and go hiking and camping to other swimming spots located on the property on weekends! I have even heard that there are some hot springs nearby though I haven’t been yet! You will love the place!

The region of Ñuble is located in the beginning of the Southern Zone of Chile, blessed by the beauty of the sea and the Andes Mountains, with big amounts of fresh water and lush forests. The closest main city is Concepción, near the ocean and with many activities going on. Chillán, the larger nearest city is located towards the interior of the region and is quite big and a little chaotic (as many cities in South America are). The land where the workshop will take place we call “La Jungla”. It is located up in the Andes mountains 1 1/2 hours away from Chillán and near a ski town called Las Trancas where alot of eco- and tourist development has been taking place over the past years. The closest town is called Pellines. The big mountain for skiing is called Nevados de Chillán and has 3 volcanoes – one of them that is active today and perhaps ready to go. We have had some smoke pumping out in the last year and some volcanic activity around the area, however the land is located to the north of this area, so there is no risk.
The land is owned by my family consisting of 3 brothers (Matias, Lucas and Nico) and our father Mario and Mom Loreto. The land is really huge: 3,200 hectares big! It is like a whole natural park, blessed with native forest, huge old trees, a river crossing all of the valley with fresh water to drink and bathe in, ponds and waterfalls to play in, and many many trails to go explore the land!
There is an interesting story that took place on this land. Back in 1820 this place was pure native forest, and the only people walking through it were the Pincheira Brothers: earth pirates who would cross from Argentina to Chile through this land and would steal animals and goods to sell them in other places. There is a huge cave known as the Pincheira’s Cave, where it is said that they would spend the nights during winter time. So based on this, there are many oral traditions around the zone saying that there is a huge treasure hidden somewhere on the land – but if you search for it with ambition, you wont find it!. For the Pimentel brothers, the treasure is the land itself.
After the Pincheira Brothers’ time, there was a long period of illegal wood milling. Sadly, some of the forest was taken away, but Nature is strong enough so that it recovered. Today there are two types of native forest: the old one and the new one, each with its own beauty and unique wild life. The area surrounding the land is being used by the forest industry, covering it with many pine and eucalyptus plantations. This is why the brothers feel a big responsibility: they are the protectors of this land which is still wild and natural. In the past few years, we have been working hard to create an eco-tourism project there, with the intention to offer the beauty of this place to the people, but always protecting it and taking care of it. The place is very remote with millions of stars to look at every night. Electricity comes from a water turbine and there is no phone signal yet, so it is very wild and isolated, and blessed with fresh water running everywhere and the Peace of Nature. There are no dangerous animals which makes it very safe to be in.
We have built 3 little houses at the entrance of the land: one big kitchen and two little huts. But where the Cob Building workshop will take place is higher and deeper in the land, because we want to start to “colonize” the upper part so the project can have more than one base camp.
Summertime is when there is the most activity on the land. Besides the workshop, there will be other work going on, mainly the building of trails, which are being supported by the CONAF (National Corporation of Native Forest). The land is always shared with our friends, so many visitors will be stopping in to help with side projects, to take a look to the cob building, and to share music and good times with the community of cobbers.
The weather during summer is mostly sunny and warm, but can get a bit cold at night. Sometimes the rain comes – up in the mountains everything is possible! Winter time is harder because of the snow and cold times. So we are lucky . This is going to be a great month of deep connection with the Earth, Water, Wind and Fire!
Check out these two videos of the land by drone….
WEEKS 1-4: INTERMEDIATE COB BUILDING WORKSHOP
The 28-day Intermediate Cob Building Workshop consists of 20 days of theoretical instruction (lectures with graphics) and construction for 4 hours in the morning and 3 hours in the afternoon. Students arrive on Sunday and settle in. International students can check with Host about arriving earlier to adjust to time difference, etc. Weekends (Saturday and Sunday) are days off for resting, exploring the area, studying and, if desired, continuing to build at your own pace. The last Saturday morning may include some finishing up work and cleanup. Morning (4 hours) and afternoon (3 hours) sessions each have a 15-minute snack break. Lunch break lasts 2 hours which includes about 1 hour of rest time before the afternoon session begins, with a 30-60 minute lecture, followed by construction. After class there is a 90-minute break before dinner, which may include a yoga or other body relaxation session. There will also be one evening a week after dinner for showing slides, videos and having Course-related discussions. Other evenings are free and/or organized by group for extracurricular activities as desired.
The 28-day Course will offer practical learning by building a 15m2/164ft2 (size may be a bit bigger or smaller depending on number of students) curvilinear building. The Course starts with the Foundation work during Week 1. In Weeks 2 & 3 we build the Cob wall, which include a door, opening and fixed windows, shelves, artistic inserts like bottles, driftwood, branches, etc., electrical and plumbing infrastructure, sculpting and the roof connection elements. We will also build the first 10” (gravel, insulation and rough cob) of floor. In Week 4 we will finish sculpting if needed, apply one coat of earthen plaster on the interior and exterior wall, and apply the second coat of floor on the last day.
Those who complete the 28-day Workshop will receive the Intermediate Cobber Certification of Completion for Foundation, Cob Walls (which includes Door, Windows, Shelves, Art, Electrical & Plumbing), Floor, Plaster & Roof (lecture only).
WEEK 5: “SARA” MASONRY HEATER AND STOVE
In Week 5 the workshop will take a new turn and offer a week with Hector Nuñez, . Hector will lead students in the construction of the highly-efficient, low-cost earthen stove & heater developed at the University of Argentina for low-income rural households that goes by the name “Sara”. For more details on the “Estufa Sara” check out this link. Like the rocket stove it uses minimal fuel in the form of branches and small wood pieces and is a double-combustion stove with horizontal and vertical channels built into the upper box, allowing for maximal use of fuel energy for heating the thermal mass of the stove and anything else it passes through, ie a bench, floor, or wall. The “Sara” stove is used for heating as well as cooking on and can also include an oven on the side, which may or may not be part of the workshop depending on number of students and flow of project. You can see Hector’s work on Facebook at Hector Nuñez Docente en Bioconstrucción.
The workshop will continue with the same schedule as in the prior 4 weeks, with lecture three times a week, slides and/or video on Wednesday night and hands-on construction the rest of the time.

WEEK 6: RECIPROCAL ROOF & GREEN ROOF
For the first time in a CruzinCobGlobal workshop we will offer an exciting opportunity for students to learn more and get the Advanced Cobber Certificate by completing a week focused only on roof construction. While the wooden structure/framework of the main roof will be built before the workshop in order to help protect the building and students from excessive sun and/or rain, it also permits us to finish the roof in Week 6, when we will build a reciprocal frame roof for the attached bathroom and cover both rooves with a green roof. Hector Nuñez, professional natural builder from Uruguay (see more about Hector in Instructor section below) will teach and lead this week, with the same schedule of lectures three times a week, slides and videos on Wednesday night and hands-on building the rest of the time. Students will learn the structure of roof-building in lecture and we will aim to build the reciprocal roof and put the finishing cover layers on both rooves, knowing that the progress always depends on number and abilities of students, weather and any other unforeseen circumstances.

WORKSHOP SCHEDULE
The 28-day Complete Cob Workshop begins on Sunday evening with Dinner and ends on Sunday (4 weeks later) with Lunch. Students may also have the opportunity to stay after the Course and help with the final finish work if needed (additional coats of plaster and floor, oiling and waxing floor, French drain, gutters, inserting door and opening windows into frames, putting in appliances and fixtures) and if offered by Host.
Mondays through Fridays we will build and Saturdays/Sundays we will have time off, though students are always welcome to keep building if they so desire. Otherwise there will be time to go to the ocean, hiking, backpacking, rest, etc. The last Saturday will be used to wrap things up and for a final group activity with a celebration dinner. Sunday morning after Breakfast we will hold Graduation and our Closing Circle and the Workshop will end with a delicious farewell Lunch.
The daily schedule will be:
6:30-7:30 Meditation & Yoga/Dance
7:30-8:30 Breakfast
8:45-1:00 Class
1:00-2:30 Lunch
2:30-5:30 Class
5:30-7:00 Rest/Yoga/Dance/Massage
7:00-8:00 Dinner
8:00-9:00 Slides/Videos/Discussion (once a week)
On other evenings there will be optional additional activities like Salsa Dancing, Fire Circles, Music, Singing, etc.

DETAILED COURSE CONTENTS
Students will learn every phase of building a cob building from foundation through the roof in lectures/theory. In addition to the lectures, slideshows and videos will be shown to support and enhance their understanding of cob materials, cob building, design, geography , budgeting, business options and legal issues. The same schedule will happen for the Masonry Heater/Stove/Oven week.
Our hands-on practice will include:
digging foundation trench
pouring gravel and inserting drainage pipe (if applicable)
building foundation stemwall
analyzing soils and materials
making test bricks
deciding on correct mixture
deciding on best location
making cob solo and wth partner
building with cob
preparing and inserting the door
preparing and inserting fixed and opening windows
preparing and inserting shelves
inserting bottle windows and other objects
inserting electrical wiring and plumbing in walls
sculpting
preparing and applying earthen plaster (1 coat)
pouring an earthen floor (2 layers)
preparing walls for roof connection building reciprocal frame roof structure on an independent structure building a layered green roof over the existing cob building roof building an earthen (adobe) high-efficiency masonry heater/oven/stove
making small-scale cob designs of future projects, time permitting
In addition to Cob Building practices, the Course material also includes:
legal issues about cob
cost analysis
creating a cob business (building/teaching)
assisting, interning and teaching with CruzinCobGlobal

REQUIREMENTS AND IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING PHYSICAL WORK
CruzinCobGlobal’s Cob Building workshops are an intense and demanding building experience. The goal of our month-long Complete Cob Workshop is to complete a whole structure including the roof covering by the last Friday of the workshop. This is quite an accomplishment and when completed, give students alot of pride and confidence in building on their own after the workshop. The Monday through Friday schedule is rigorous and meant to train students in experiencing what it takes to build a cob building in a reasonable amount of time. We also have a great time bonding, playing music, doing Yoga, sitting around the fire and relaxing after class time. Students can use weekends to rest, recuperate and enjoy getting to know the location. We accept all levels and abilities and students are never required to go beyond what they feel comfortable with. There are always other activities besides mixing and building which are needed to build the house (getting materials, trimming, screening material, cutting straw, sculpting, plaster, etc) and students learn alot by watching
Students will need to come prepared for physical labor from Day 1.
This includes:
Work clothes appropriate for the country and climate we are in (long pants for Muslim countries)
Slip-on flip-flops
Work Boots or Closed Shoes for Foundation and Roof, if applicable
Lightweight rubber gloves (not gardening gloves)
Good moisturizer (clay is drying and dehydrating!)
Hat
Water Bottle
Notebook/Pen/Camera
A 2 ft level and sharp-toothed wood saw (optional but recommended)
Students are required to read “The Hand-Sculpted House” before the workshop begins and any other book they find, as well as watching videos on YouTube, especially the ones posted on CruzinCobGlobal’s website under Gallery to get an idea of what is expected. Please bring your book(s).
Students must tend to their own personal needs, drink alot of water, rest when needed and exert themselves at a steady pace. Students who cannot do the strenuous physical work should let us know before the workshop begins so we can adjust appropriately. It is totally OK to come for the lecture/theory part, and then help the building part in less physically demanding ways, ie cutting straw, sifting for plaster, hammering nails into frames or shelves, sculpting, plastering, cutting bottles. There is alot to do besides making and building with cob!!!!
Finally, please bring a watch or use your phone to be prompt and ready for each part of the Course including meals. Feel free to share your dietary needs with CCG or the Host and bring your essential snacks and foods, pillow and whatever you NEED to be comfortable and happy. Feel free to also bring slides, videos, movies and books to share, as well as a sample of your soil to test.

MEALS & ACCOMMODATIONS
This workshop will be in the wilderness so the accommodations will be camping in your own tents. Students who have a real difficulty bringing a tent may ask Host for an alternative shelter or buy a tent in Chile. Days are warm and even hot and nights can be chilly in the mountains. Please bring warm clothes for nighttime and make sure you have a warm sleeping bag. Blankets can be made available if needed. Bring bathing suit, towels, work clothes, weekend clothes, etc.
Three meals/day will be served Monday through Friday. Weekends food will be provided for students to prepare on their own. Meals will be vegetarian and delicious as always. If you need meat or other additional nutritional support please bring it or speak with Host about how to get it onsite. Also bring your extra sweets and snacks that you like because we will be far from the nearest store (40 minute drive).
Weekends are free to leave and go to the ocean or hiking or camping elsewhere. If you stay at the site, food will be available and students will cook together or for themselves. People leaving are welcome to take some food with them too. The Payment for food includes weekends but there will be no structured meals or cook on the weekends, just do it yourself ?

TRAVEL LOGISTICS
The largest nearest city to fly into is Santiago. COPA, LATAM, LanChile, Azul, Avianca and all major airlines fly into Santiago. Concepción also has an airport and is the closest to the workshop site. From Europe, the most economical cities to fly from are London, Rome, Paris and Madrid. I just booked my ticket from Madrid to Buenos Aires with NorwegianAir for 302€, and found another ticket from Buenos Aires to Santiago for 61€ on JetSmart and Sky. While everyone has their favorite search site I like Rome2Rio…When you arrive in Santiago, you can take any bus to Chillán from the Bus Terminal. There are many bus companies and they all stop at Chillán as there is one main highway in Chile. Pullman and Turbus have online reservations otherwise you can just buy your ticket the same day at the station. There is also a train that leaves once a day but it is more expensive. The bus is easiest. However, there is one specific bus line called Nilahue which goes from Santiago to Las Trancas. This is the best because it can drop you in Camino a Pellines (between Pinto and Recinto) and we can pick everyone up from there, which is 45 minutes away from the land.
If you go by bus to Chillán, then you will have to take another bus and go to Las Trancas and jump off in Camino a Pellines (km 38). If there are many people arriving the same day, maybe we can go to Chillán to pick them up, or if we are around the city, we can also pick people up.

From km 38, we can always pick people up. We will soon be posting the bus schedules to make planning easier. Might be fun to check out Saniago for a few days first and to stock up on whatever you will need for camping for a month.

If someone has a car, this is the map to arrive from Santiago to La Jungla

https://www.google.cl/maps/dir/-33.3608536,-70.5369263/Fundo+San+Jos%C3%A9,+Coihueco,+Regi%C3%B3n+del+B%C3%ADo+B%C3%ADo/@-35.2697705,-72.2684322,7z/data=!4m16!1m6!3m5!1s0x966ec1d5b85cf2d1:0x700ded9e8adf60bd!2sFundo+San+Jos%C3%A9!8m2!3d-36.8139114!4d-71.5744724!4m8!1m1!4e1!1m5!1m1!1s0x966ec1d5b85cf2d1:0x700ded9e8adf60bd!2m2!1d-71.5744724!2d-36.8139114

PAYMENT
The workshop is divided into multiple options. You can take the 4-week cob building workshop alone or add the 5th week or 6th or both or only do the 5th or 6th or both. However the 4-week workshop cannot be divided up and must be taken entirely. Camping is free.
The 6-week workshop is a flat $2250. This includes tuition for Monday through Friday workshop days, all meals 7 days a week, and camping facilities. Weekends are free to explore and travel but if you stay at the site and relax or keep working there will be food available. Weekdays we will have cooks but weekends we will cook together.
4-week cob building wkshp, camping, food: $1500
One additional wkshp week, camping, food: $375
Two additional weeks, camping, food: $750
For the final price for your choice of attendance, please contact claudine@cruzincobglobal.org.
Payment can be made by Venmo, Paypal, Zelle, free Bank Transfer to US or European Bank account or Transferwise. Please contact Claudine to register and make your payment and learn how to avoid transaction fees. You can contact her at claudine@cruzincobglobal.org or +1831212-7225 by phone, SMS or Whatsapp.
***Para chilenos y suramericanos el precio local es:
1,080,000 CLP (pesos chilenos) para las 6 semanas
202,500 CLP para semanas individuales
Se puede pagar por transferencia por Paypal o Transferwise o a cuenta local***

Please contact Nico for questions about travel, accommodations and food. His email is nicpandreu@gmail.com and Whatsapp is +56 990897292.

WORK TRADE
There are 4 work trade positions open in all weeks of the workshop for an hour a day in either the kitchen or onsite. Each position gives $50/week of discount or $200 off for the 4-week workshop and $50 off for each of the other week-long workshops. No experience is needed and they will not interfere with your class hours.
Please inquire asap as these are the first spots to go.

INSTRUCTORS

INSTRUCTORS
Claudine Désirée, founder and director of CCG, learned how to cob with Michael Smith in 2003 in northern CA and has been building and teaching ever since completing her first project, her legal 200 ft2 studio, in her backyard. In 2014, she was one of the first people to legalize a cob building on the west coast of the US, where the building code laws are the most stringent due to high earthquake risk.
In 2008, she created SunflowerCobBuilding which became CruzinCob and then, in April 2015, evolved into CruzinCobGlobal, the international cob workshop business she runs from wherever she happens to be on the Planet. To date she has taught close to 100 workshops, 25 of which have been part of CCG’s exciting international circuit since the Spring of 2015 in the following countries: Spain, the Canaries (Spain), Senegal, Cabo Verde, France, Morocco, Portugal, the Azores (Portugal), Colombia, Brazil and the US.

Hector Núnez is an Uruguayan natural builder and instructor from Montevideo. He has been teaching at the University of the Republic of Uruguay for several years as well as in international workshops. Hector also works privately as a designer and consultant and has been a presenter in international natural building conferences and gatherings. He specializes in earthen construction of all kinds and most recently, has been teaching the construction of earthen highly-efficient “Sara” stoves/heaters from Argentina. You can see more of his work on his Facebook Page Héctor Nuñez Docente en Bioconstrucción.

CRUZINCOBGLOBAL.ORG
Our vision is two-fold. First, we seek to expand the global awareness, understanding and practical experience of Earthen “Cob” Construction as a safe, healthy, ecological, economical, strong and durable building technique everywhere on the Planet. Secondly CCG seeks to contribute to the reduction in concrete-based construction and cement production thereby increasing the well-being of all Life and our Planet Home.
Our mission is to collaborate with individuals and communities around the Planet in organizing and holding Cob Building workshops in which we lead an international/intercultural group of 10-15 students in the construction of all (foundation, walls and floor) or part (just walls) of a small structure (10-15m2 or 110-165ft2) in a period of 21-28 days. We also teach 3-4 day Cob Oven workshops as a shorter and easier option. While we have been able to install rafters and even a full roof in some workshops, it is never guaranteed and so we are choosing not to include Roof in our Workshop description anymore, though it is always a possibility hinging on number and ability of students, size of building, weather and how smoothly the build flows.

Introduction to Cob Workshop
2019-04-22 - 2019-04-26 | Unnamed Venue, Keystone Heights, FL, United States
Dates: April 22 – April 26, 2019
Location: Keystone Heights, Florida

Come and join us in Florida for our 2019 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.
This workshop is a great experience to learn how to build with cob and to get a broad learning overview of natural building techniques. You will get a solid foundation in cob building fundamentals. We will be constructing an outdoor cob sitting area and studying Natural Building together each day. After this workshop, you will have the basic know-how and confidence to design and build your own simple cob constructions or cob building.

Hands-On Work Topics:
– How to make cob (with the traditional tarp method)
– Selecting and testing soils for cob (learn several ways to test your soil composition)
– Rubble trench foundations and stem wall foundation construction
– Building cob walls (learn my four steps to efficient cob wall building)
– Creating window and door frames (how to build and attach frames to cob walls)
– Basic Roofing Construction
– Rammed Earth Demonstration (building rammed earth forms and compaction process)
– Earthen Plaster Demonstration (learn to mix and apply earth plaster)

Classroom and Discussion Topics:
– Site selection and design (includes Passive Solar design principles)
– Materials and tools (covers traditional and modern cob building toolset and materials)
– Rubble trench foundations (Plus general foundation building)
– Drainage principles (Important: water can be cob’s worst enemy)
– Basic Electrical and Plumbing integration for cob homes
– Installing windows and doors
– Roofing and Bond Beams
– Natural plasters and finishes (Vapor Permeable / “Breathable” finishes)
– Overview of Natural Building materials

This workshop is a unique experience for people to learn about building cob homes and to get an overview of Natural Building. Not only are there plenty of hands-on lessons to learn from, but we will also have ample discussion and informal classroom time. Most cob workshops don’t cover this many topics. But here, you will learn all the core lessons needed to start building from this one workshop!
Plus – there will be many hours of discussions about building cob homes and natural building throughout the workshop. Its a great way to get your questions answered and brainstorm your building ideas!
The workshop will be held at a private property in Keystone Heights, Florida.
Each day will begin at 8:00 AM, and the days will include hands-on building, classroom sessions, discussions, and learning activities related to cob and natural building topics. We will break for lunch between 12:30 to 1:30 PM, and we will complete each day at around 5:00 PM. They will be full-packed days! Worth your every penny!
The workshop will be taught by Alex Sumerall, an east coast Natural Builder who has a focus on creating earthen structures that are healthy, aesthetically pleasing, and functional for modern life. He is the owner of This Cob House, LLC, which is dedicated to teaching people about cob and natural building techniques. Alex has a background in business and advertising, and has been practicing Natural Building since 2011. He graduated from the Aprovecho School of Natural Building in 2013 in Cottage Grove, Oregon, and continues to teach, present, consult, and construct.

Earn A Certificate of Cob Building!

Upon completion of this workshop, you will be awarded with a certificate of cob building. This certificate is earned by all of our 5-day workshop students. It will be printed and signed by Alex for you to take home with you at the end of the week.

Free Bonus!
Everyone who signs up for the workshop will receive a printed copy of Alex’s book, “Build a Cob House: A Step-By-Step Guide”, and the downloadable PDF version, FREE! We only make printed copies for workshop students, so this is your chance to get one. We will be using the book as a lesson guide throughout the workshop too so you can follow along with your book in hand.

Listen to the great things that our workshop participants are saying!
“The cob workshop was a life-changing experience. I learned a lot about natural building, not only from Alex’s instruction, experience and demonstrations, but from interacting with people from different backgrounds who were a great source of collective knowledge. The hands-on experience was priceless!”

Tony Romo, Texas

“The Cob Building Workshop was a great investment of my time! It was well organized, extremely inspiring, and FUN! Alex was able to explain construction basics to neophytes like me, yet he could also answer the complex questions asked by the more experienced workshop attendees. I can’t wait until the next workshop!”

Marybeth Babos, Tennessee

Lodging
There are two options for lodging: free camping on site, or making reservations at one of the local hotels or AirBnB. Hotels are available in the neighboring towns of Stark and Waldo, per Google maps, and possibly in Keystone Heights.
Camping is FREE and is available throughout the property. There are plenty of great locations to set up a tent here. Multiple camp areas are available with oak trees shading the majority of the property. Trees can be used appropriately for hammocks & camp gear. Campers will have access to a clean bathroom and private outdoor shower.
A modernized, yet simple, building contains a flushable toilet with a private outdoor shower that’s tucked away. It is spacious with room to keep things up and dry.
Our location has electricity & water. Electric outlets are minimal, with the ability to charge phones & power tools, in a single location. The water is well water and is drinkable, yet you may wish to bring your own.

Food
Meals will not be included in this workshop so participants will need to provide their own food. There are several local restaurants and grocery stores nearby the workshop site.
Each is responsible for their own meal preparation, unless decisions are made to share or combine. An hour for lunch is provided, allowing adequate time for a quick nap, a trip into town, fast food, cooking over the fire, or utilizing the grill. There is no official kitchen on site, but there is a small operational microwave, and a few pieces of kitchen camp gear available for use. Coolers are welcome and encouraged.
Local Places to Eat: McHenry’s (food & pub), Keystone Inn (country buffet, known for chicken) Hardee’s, McDonald’s, Subway, Johnny’s BBQ

Recreation & Surroundings
Bring a camp chair for some quality R&R. Build a community camp fire, while reflecting on the day. Enjoy the grassy area to throw a ball, walking trails through the woods, blackberry bushes, slightly traveled road that’s great for a leisurely walk, and the open field in the distance to spot deer, crane, & rabbits in the early mornings.

Family & Groups
Ask about discounts. We encourage group & family activities because it enhances learning among your support group. Email me at alex@thiscobhouse.com for custom group/family invoice.
Children/young people of any age are welcome to join in and learn. Please be aware that some areas are under construction, as is the purpose of this workshop. Previous workshop parents have brought playpens, pop up tents, outside toys, and so forth. Children are welcome to explore through “hands-on” learning. It’s okay if they play in the dirt.

Prices
Regular Price: $599

Early-Bird Discount Price: $499 (Register and Pay Before March 25th)
Additional Discounts: 10% for family and friends participating together.
Teens accompanying a parent/guardian are half price. Children under 13 accompanying a parent/guardian are free.

Click here to register: http://www.thiscobhouse.com/introduction-cob-workshop-keystone-heights-florida/

If you have any other questions about the workshop, please feel free to email me at alex@thiscobhouse.com
If you have a large party of people registering, they can all register separately, or contact me for a custom invoice.

Intro to Cob + Strawbale
2019-04-28 09:00 - 17:00 | Mud Dauber School of Natural Building, 8813 Lindley Mill Road, Snow Camp, NC, NC, 27349, United States
Earliest Bird (register before January 28th): $70
Early Bird (register before March 28th): $85
Regular Fee: $100
In this one-day introduction, we will be mixing and building with cob, as well as discussing straw-based building techniques. Look forward to morning and afternoon hands-on work, with a discussion/presentation after lunch. The day will conclude with a pizza dinner, using our cob oven!
We will cover the basics:

mixing and applying cob
mixing and applying natural clay-based plasters
strawbale vs. cob concepts
basic foundation ideas
touring a permitted strawbale house

We will enjoy three home-cooked meals, focusing on healthy and real foods (and local, where possible!). Dinner will be a pizza night at our cob oven!
There are composting toilets, hot showers, and a pond to swim in. Drinking water is readily available, as is electricity. We are located in Snow Camp, NC ; the closest town is Saxapahaw, which is about 10 minutes away, and has wifi, a coffee shop, a bar, and a general store.

Cob Building Workshop
2019-05-06 - 2019-05-10 | Unnamed Venue, Athens, TN, United States
Dates: May 6 – May 12, 2019
Location: Athens, Tennessee

Come and join us in the beautiful foothills of Athens, Tennessee for our 2019 Cob Building Workshop! We will be constructing a cob house in this workshop. A perfect project for beginners and experts alike! You will get the knowledge to be able to build cob projects scaling from smaller things, such as cob ovens and benches, up to large projects like homes and buildings.

This workshop is a great experience to learn how to build with cob and to get a broad learning overview of natural building techniques. You will get a solid foundation in cob building fundamentals. We will be constructing a fully functional cob house and studying Natural Building together each day. After this workshop, you will have the basic know-how and confidence to design and build your own simple cob constructions or cob building.

Hands-On Work Topics:
– How to make cob (with the traditional tarp method and mixing large batches with a backhoe!)
– Selecting and testing soils for cob (learn several ways to test your soil composition)
– Building cob walls (learn my four steps to efficient cob wall building)
– Creating window and door frames (how to build and attach frames to cob walls)
– Rammed Earth Demonstration (building rammed earth forms and compaction process)

Classroom and Discussion Topics:
– Site selection and design (includes Passive Solar design principles)
– Materials and tools (covers traditional and modern cob building toolset and materials)
– Rubble trench foundations (Plus general foundation building)
– Drainage principles (Important: water can be cob’s worst enemy)
– Basic Electrical and Plumbing integration for cob homes
– Installing windows and doors
– Roofing and Bond Beams
– Natural plasters and finishes (Vapor Permeable / “Breathable” finishes)
– Overview of Natural Building materials

This workshop is a unique experience for people to learn about building cob homes and to get an overview of Natural Building. Not only are there plenty of hands-on lessons to learn from, but we will also have ample discussion and informal classroom time. Most cob workshops don’t cover this many topics. But here, you will learn all the core lessons needed to start building from this one workshop!
Plus – there will be many hours of discussions about building cob homes and natural building throughout the workshop. Its a great way to get your questions answered and brainstorm your building ideas!
The workshop will be held at a private property in Athens, Tennessee.
Each day will begin at 8:00 AM, and the days will include hands-on building, classroom sessions, discussions, and learning activities related to cob and natural building topics. We will break for lunch between 12:30 to 1:30 PM, and we will complete each day at around 5:00 PM. They will be full-packed days! Worth your every penny!
The workshop will be taught by Alex Sumerall, an east coast Natural Builder who has a focus on creating earthen structures that are healthy, aesthetically pleasing, and functional for modern life. He is the owner of This Cob House, LLC, which is dedicated to teaching people about cob and natural building techniques. Alex has a background in business and advertising, and has been practicing Natural Building since 2011. He graduated from the Aprovecho School of Natural Building in 2013 in Cottage Grove, Oregon, and continues to teach, present, consult, and construct.

Listen to the great things that our workshop participants are saying!

“The cob workshop was a life-changing experience. I learned a lot about natural building, not only from Alex’s instruction, experience and demonstrations, but from interacting with people from different backgrounds who were a great source of collective knowledge. The hands-on experience was priceless!” Tony Romo, Texas

“The Cob Building Workshop was a great investment of my time! It was well organized, extremely inspiring, and FUN! Alex was able to explain construction basics to neophytes like me, yet he could also answer the complex questions asked by the more experienced workshop attendees. I can’t wait until the next workshop!”
Marybeth Babos, Tennessee

Lodging
There are two options for lodging: free camping on site, or making reservations at one of the local hotels or AirBnB. There are plenty of lodging options available in the neighboring towns, just a short drive from the workshop site.

Camping is FREE and is available on the property. There are plenty of great locations to set up a tent here. Multiple camp areas are available. Campers will have access to composting toilets and private outdoor showers.
We have water available on-site, but there is little electricity available since this is an off-grid property. We recommend bringing a small solar charger for any cell phones or devices if you are camping on-site.

Food
Meals will not be included in this workshop so participants will need to provide their own food. There are several local restaurants and grocery stores nearby the workshop site.
Each is responsible for their own meal preparation, unless decisions are made to share or combine. An hour for lunch is provided, allowing adequate time for a quick nap, a trip into town, fast food, or cooking over a fire. There is no official kitchen on site. Coolers are welcome and encouraged.

Family & Groups
Ask about discounts. We encourage group & family activities because it enhances learning among your support group. Email me at alex@thiscobhouse.com for custom group/family invoice.
Children/young people of any age are welcome to join in and learn. Please be aware that some areas are under construction, as is the purpose of this workshop. Children are welcome to explore through “hands-on” learning. It’s okay if they play in the dirt.

Prices
Regular Price: $499

Early-Bird Discount Price: $399 (Register and Pay Before April 8th)
Additional Discounts: 10% for family and friends participating together.
Teens accompanying a parent/guardian are half price. Children under 13 accompanying a parent/guardian are free.
Click here to register: http://www.thiscobhouse.com/cob-building-workshop-athens-tennessee/
If you have any other questions about the workshop, please feel free to email me at alex@thiscobhouse.com
If you have a large party of people registering, they can all register separately, or contact me for a custom invoice.

Intro to Fast Cob! and Natural Finishing
2019-05-16 15:30 - 2019-05-20 11:00 | Lasqueti Island, 1 Beautiful Bicycle Lane, Lasqueti Island, BC, V0R 2J0, Canada
This year, we’ll be getting walls from rough cob to finished beauty. We’ll mix and use a “filler” coat of plaster until the wall is the depth and smoothness we want, then we’ll cover that with a natural plaster called “Ditema”: cow manure and clay. We’ll have a variety of applicators, so you can play with texture and finish. Once that dries, we’ll mix and tint a hydrated lime paint to finish it all off.
We’ll also mix up some Fast Cob! so you can see how easy our technique is. Just be warned, this short course is not enough to go off and start building on your own without prior experience. But if you’re curious about Fast Cob! or cob in general, this course is for you. Come and let your creative side have fun!

Rare Comprehensive Workshop!
2019-05-18 15:00 - 2019-05-28 13:00 | Cob hill natural building school, hughes springs, TX, 75656, United States
Come join us for this exciting opportunity to participate in every aspect of building your natural home!
For more information you can go to our face book page at: facebook.com/cobhillnaturalbuildingschool
Or just click on our website! Happy cobbing everyone!

A Complete Introduction to Ecological Building Techniques (Cob, Wattle and Daub, Earthbags, Natural Plasters)
2019-05-18 16:00 - 2019-05-25 09:00 | Bahia de Santiago, Santiago Atitlan, Bahia de Santiago, Aldea Tzanchaj, Santiago Atitlan, Solola, 503, Guatemala
An Introduction to Ecological Building Techniques
Including Rubble Trench and Rock Foundation, Wattle and Daub, Earth Bags, Cob, Natural Plasters, and Rocket Mass Heaters!
May 18th — May 25th, 2019
Intro to Ecological Construction
For thousands of years, people have been building their homes out of the dirt beneath their feet. Natural and vernacular building techniques have roots in every culture around the world, but share the distinction of using local materials, being energy efficient, and having a low ecological footprint. Only during the past century have natural building methods been replaced by the construction industry which is characterized by an unsustainable sourcing of non-renewable resources, energy inefficient design, and a huge carbon footprint.
Natural building techniques allows individuals to use their hands and feet to form earth mixed with sand and straw, a sensory and aesthetic experience similar to sculpting with clay. Natural building is easy to learn, inexpensive to build, and lends itself to organic shapes such as curved walls, arches and niches. Earth homes are cool in summer and warm in winter and maximize the capture of natural sources of energy. Natural building methods don´t contribute to deforestation, pollution or mining nor depend on manufactured materials or power tools. In this age of environmental degradation, dwindling natural resources, and chemical toxins hidden in our homes, doesn’t it make sense to return to nature’s most abundant, cheap and healthy building material?
Summary About Logistics
This six day workshop will cover considerations on picking a house site including passive solar design, building a rubble trench and natural rock and lime mortar foundation, wattle and daub wall construction, earth bag construction, cob construction, natural, earthen plasters, and rocket mass heaters.
Specifically, we will be finishing the cob and wattle and daub walls on the first floor of a hexagon-shaped classroom for an organization that designs cross cultural learning experiences. We will also be building a rubble trench and rock foundation for another cabin, incorporating earth bag furniture into the hexagon classroom, installing a rocket mass heater/stove in the kitchen area, and finishing up plaster work on another finished cabin on the land.
We offer private transportation from the Guatemalan airport to Santiago Atitlan and vice versa. Lodging will be at a comfortable local hostel with Wi-Fi and hot water showers in the heart of Santiago Atitlan where you will be able to enjoy the vibrant night market of a beautiful and unique Mayan town. Included in the price of the workshop is a day-long tour of several communities around Lake Atitlan to experience and learn about other types of natural construction projects including cob, adobe, and bamboo building, two meals a day, and snacks. We have found that participants like to have free time in the evenings to explore the town and enjoy dinner on their own.
About Lake Atitlan
Lake Atitlan is one of the three major tourist attractions of Guatemala, sharing the distinction with the ancient Mayan center of Tikal and the classic Spanish colonial city of Antigua. The Lake lies in the Central Highlands of Guatemala, 80 miles west of Guatemala City and three hours by car along the Pan American Highway.
Lake Atitlan has long been considered by discriminating travelers to be among the most physically beautiful lakes in the world. But, the magic is not just the Lake. It is also the surrounding volcanoes and escarpments that frame this 130-square kilometer surface of sparkling water. It is the sun and breeze, playing on the Lake’s surface, nudging it into revealing its capriciously changeable character.
The enchantment of the Lake is also found in the proud but friendly Mayan people living along its shores that hold to the essence of their cultural identities while adapting to modern conveniences that fit their pragmatically adjusting view of the Universe.
About the Tz’utujil People and Santiago Atitlan
The Popul Vuh describes the mythic journey and arrival of seven tribes of warriors to a place called Tulan. In this account, the Tz’utujil are the first of the seven tribes to arrive. Existing evidence indicates that Tz’utujil-speakers once occupied the territory surrounding Lake Atitlán as well as the southern expanse of territory to the coastal lowlands.
The word “Tz’utujil” means “Corn Flower.” Today Tz’utujil is spoken in the towns of San Pablo, San Juan, San Pedro, Chicacao, and Santiago Atitlan. “Atitlan,” a word of Nahuatl origin, means “close to the water.”
Santiago Atitlan is the largest of the 12 lakeside communities and is the principal population center of the Tz’utujil people. Its population is over 32,000, with about 95% indigenous. The town is located on the embankment of broken lava at the foot of Volcano Toliman, across the bay from the pre-Conquest Tz’utujil capital, Chuitinamit.
The survival of the Tz’utujil Maya and the existence of present day Santiago Atitlan, one of the largest intact communities in the Americas, give powerful testimony to the spirit of Tz’utujil resistance.
Additional Cultural and Recreational Activities
In addition to learning about natural building methods, during your visit to Lake Atitlan you will be afforded the opportunity to participate in numerous activities that engage the rich local Tz’utujil culture and that invite you to experience the recreational possibilities of the surrounding environment. These activities range from hearing from and dining with local ancestral leaders and spiritual authorities, to spending a day touring the Lake by boat and visiting different towns to see magnificent examples of the very natural building methods you have been learning about and putting into practice. Of course, if you would rather just relax and enjoy your pleasant lodging accommodations, or meander around Santiago Atitlan and enjoy a cup of coffee or beer, you are more than welcome to do so. Nevertheless, we from the Utz’ K’aslimaal Collective, want to make sure that you have every opportunity to enjoy the immense natural and cultural beauty of Lake Atitlan.
The Importance of Ecological Conservation at Lake Atitlan
As man increases his presence at Lake Atitlan and as modern culture increasingly imposes its influence here, the balance of the Lake ecosystem becomes increasingly prone to destabilization. The challenge to find ways to adjust the demands of our communities so that they fit into the greater balance of the Lake ecosystem is exacerbated by unique demographic factors as well as the attractiveness of the Lake as a tourist destination.
The profit sector of modern mass culture has loaded the Lake environment with products to promote material progress without considering the serious side effects. The indigenous communities that inhabit the Lake, and the outsiders who increasingly call it home, are just beginning to appreciate the consequences.
With the alarm having sounded, today there are many organizational actors which play active roles in preserving the Lake as a healthy, living entity. These include international, national and local environmentally-focused groups directly engaged in the dynamics of protecting the Lake ecosystem. Still, there is a good deal of “catching up” to do, and the Utz’ K’aslimaal Collective is one of these actors joining the effort to design ecological forms of livelihood that respect the natural limitations and boundaries of the land itself.
The Infrastructure You´re Helping to Build
On a pragmatic level, the Utz´ K´aslimaal Collective seeks to demonstrate a tangible example of sustainable living, ecological land design, and natural construction. All of the structures built on the land are made from locally available, natural materials. In the long term, we hope to build a center to launch a diverse array of educational programs that allow Western people to learn from indigenous people, engage in exchanges of mutual solidarity, and offer a new standard of tourism that involves and values the local community, culture, and environment.
Community Involvement
As an organization that seeks to belong to and participate in the life of the community that has accepted us, this workshop will also open spaces for local Tz´utujil youth to learn about natural construction techniques. The migration of young people to North American is a huge issue affecting the local community. Many young people choose to migrate in order to raise money to build a modern home of their own which can be prohibitively expensive. Through helping young people to discover the vernacular, beautiful and natural methods of construction, we also hope to add a small contribution towards helping young Tz´utujil people stay in their communities.
The issue of violence in Guatemala, emphasizing the contrasting peace and security in Santiago Atitlan
Guatemala has gained international notoriety as a country reeling with violence from youth gangs and drug trafficking. However, the vast majority of this violence is confined to the urban areas of the country. The town of Santiago Atitlan, where the workshop will be held, is a quiet, peaceful town where violence of any type is a rarity. Workshop participants will be picked up directly from the airport and driven (by van) to the small town of Santiago which is about 3 hours west of Guatemala City.
Natural Building Techniques to be Taught

Rubble Trench and Stone Stem wall: Instead of relying on concrete footers, we will explore how you can build a strong, reliable foundation for your home that offers both structural and drainage functions with nothing but natural materials.
Wattle and Daub: This simple wall construction technique uses a lattice of wood that is then filled in and plastered with earthen materials. It is among the most anti-seismic building materials known.
Earthbag: Filling polypropylene sacks with stabilized earth allows you to build massive, thick, and sturdy walls for your home. We´ll be building a fence out of earthbags during this workshop.
Cob: A mixture of sand, clay and straw allows you to build the walls to your home that can then be sculpted into any design that you choose. The thick walls also function as a thermal mass to effectively heat your home.
Natural Plasters: A naturally built structure is nothing but a mud hut until you add the finishing touches of a natural, earthen or lime-based plaster which turns your mud hut into an earthen home.
Rocket Mass Heater: This is one of the most energy efficient ways to heat a home, and uses a cob bench as a thermal mass that will hold in and radiate the heat during long, cold nights.

Each day of the workshop will offer a mix of classroom style conceptual/theoretical instruction in the mornings and several hours of practice with the different natural building methodologies that we´ll be using. We believe that natural building is best learned through “doing it.” Our days usually start with an hour or so of theory over breakfast before heading out to the construction site and getting our hands and feet dirty.
We will also have the opportunity to visit several naturally built structures around the Lake and process what we´ve been learning at the end of each day. Each participant will receive two e-books with information on the natural building methods that we´ll be covering and electronic copies of several leading books in the natural building niche.
Workshop Options
Option 1 – Complete International (cost $700)
This option is directed to persons that are coming from abroad. We only have 12 spaces available, so act now! It can be paid for through PayPal which is found on our website or Facebook page. It includes:

Transport service between the Guatemala City airport and Santiago Atitlan.
Community lodging in Santiago Atitlan’s famous lakeside hotel, Posada de Santiago<http://www.posadadesantiago.com/lodging.php>, which includes the use of its beautiful campus, a jacuzzi, heated pool, bicycles, and canoes/kayaks.
Six (full) days of workshop.
A day tour of the Lake, in which you will travel by boat to different towns to see magnificent examples of the very natural building techniques you have been learning about and putting into practice.
Two meals a day (breakfast and lunch) and snacks throughout the day.
Numerous activities that engage the rich local Tz’utujil culture and that invite you to experience the recreational possibilities of the surrounding environment.
Educational materials

Option 2 – Complete Lake Atitlan (cost $500)
This option is directed to persons that are coming from abroad that want to save a little bit of money by staying in a nice hostal with Wi-Fi, hot water showers, and access to the Lake. It can be paid for through PayPal and includes:

Transport service between Antigua and Santiago Atitlan and vice versa.
Private lodging in a clean and comfortable local hostel.
Two meals a day (breakfast and lunch) and snacks throughout the day.
Six full days of workshop.
A day tour of the lake, in which you will travel by boat to different towns to enjoy their beauty and see magnificent examples of the very natural building techniques you have been learning about and putting into practice.
Daily you will be provided with breakfast, lunch, dinner, and refreshments.
Numerous activities that engage the rich local Tz’utujil culture and that invite you to experience the recreational possibilities of the surrounding environment.
Educational materials.

Option 3 – Arrange Your Own Lodging (cost $450)
This option is directed to experienced travelers that would prefer to arrange their own lodging and get to Santiago Atitlan by themselves. It can be paid for through PayPal and includes:

Six full days of workshop.
A day tour of the lake, in which you will travel by boat to different towns to enjoy their beauty and see magnificent examples of the very natural building techniques you have been learning about and putting into practice.
Two meals a day (breakfast and lunch) and snacks throughout the day.
Numerous activities that engage the rich local Tz’utujil culture and that invite you to experience the recreational possibilities of the surrounding environment.
Educational materials.

For more information visit:

The Utz’ K’aslimaal website www.utzkaslimaal.org or our facebook page: www.facebook.com/utzkaslimaal

What Is the Utz’ K’aslimaal Collective?
Almost all indigenous cultures around the world have a unique understanding of what it means to live the Good Life. For the Mayan Tz´utujil people of Guatemala, the Good Life, or Utz´ K´aslimaal, is characterized by a life of balance, of proper relationships with the community and the land which holds them, and the fullness of a simple life lived well. The Utz´ K´aslimaal Collective believes that the indigenous concept of the Good Life and the inimitable worldview of the Mayan peoples from Guatemala especially, offers needed guidance, wisdom, and a practical path forward in the light of the multiple crises we collectively face on a global scale. Through our connections with the indigenous communities and territories around Guatemala, and through the ecological development of a small piece of land in Santiago Atitlan, we hope to offer a glimpse into how the Good Life might open pathways for the construction of sustainable, just, and balanced communities around the world.
Our Story
We understand our privilege, and don´t try to hide the fact that, at the most basic level, we are in some ways continuing a history of dispossession and violence towards the Mayan people of Guatemala. The piece of land where Utz´ K´aslimaal Collective is located was originally forcefully appropriated from the Tz´utujil people by a coffee baron at the turn of the 20th century. The land was then sold off to some of the wealthiest families in the country who privatized the land in hopes of turning the land into an exclusive country club for the oligarchy.
Today, thousands of foreigners come to the beautiful Lake Atitlan area and purchase the best pieces of land in order to create projects or businesses from the ample financial resources they have. In the vast majority of cases, these privileged foreigners never make an effort to belong to the reality of the indigenous communities around the Lake, but rather impose their values, ideas, worldview, and financial influence onto communities that struggle to maintain some sense of autonomy and sovereignty.
We have seen time and time again that that the tendency for these types of local/non-local relationships is to be exploitive, oppositional and ugly; offering meager employment opportunities at the cost of a more fundamental and structural dispossession of indigenous communities and their ancestral territories.
One of the guiding values of the Utz´ K´aslimaal Collective, then, is to purposefully and resolutely attempt to embody a new pattern and archetype of local/non-local relationships; one that first disgracefully acknowledges the historical privilege from which we´ve come in order to conscientiously construct relationships based on a profound respect and esteem for the community that has so graciously accepted us to form a part of their reality.
As we develop an educational program around the themes of natural building, ecological design, indigenous epistemologies, and place-based development, we want to exemplify a different model of local/non-local relationship that doesn’t just passively benefit the community via menial part-time employment and periodic bursts of income, but actively seeks to create spaces for local decision-making, voice, profit-sharing, and power.
This new model of local/non-local relationships is possible because of the way in which we have been formed over the years by indigenous communities and the real relationships that we have built. We don´t look at the indigenous communities of Guatemala and see Instead need, privation, and poverty. Rather, we admire and respect their wisdom and way of life, seek to learn from them, and build meaningful relationships of trust and justice.

Natural Building Essentials Workshop 2019
2019-05-25 21:00 - 2019-05-28 21:00 | The Year of Mud, 2777 Hammonds Fork Road, Mount Vernon, KY, 40456, United States
Want to take your natural building curiosity to the next level? If so, join The Year of Mud for our 4 day introductory Natural Building Essentials Workshop. In this course, you’ll get hands-on experience building light clay straw walls, mixing and applying various natural plasters, and stomping and sculpting cob. In addition, we’ll tour several beautiful natural homes in the local community. If you’ve been inspired by natural building and need a jump start, this is the course for you. Here is some of what you can expect during our 100% hands-on class:

Framing and preparing a stud wall to accept light clay straw insulation
Mixing light clay straw for use as insulation
Making and applying base coat clay plaster made from local materials
Building with cob (and how to make a great batch every time)
Cob oven design and construction
Working with different clay and lime plaster finishes and appropriate troweling techniques
How to install an earthen floor
Mixing clay paint from simple ingredients for use on a variety of surfaces
Understanding the differences between thermal mass and insulation

Click here for registration details!

Cob Outdoor Kitchen and Earth Oven
2019-06-01 08:00 - 2019-06-07 17:00 | Heart Song Sanctuary, 658 Co. Rt. 6, High Falls, NY, 12440, United States
We will build a cob outdoor kitchen under an existing roof structure. Students will build a stone foundation and cob walls that will support a countertop, cob benches, and construct a cob bread/pizza oven from start to finish. We will spend time learning about and working with earth and lime based plasters and paints also. We will have led discussions/presentations on oven design, foundations and site planning, wood framing, and roofing.
What to expect:
Our days will be spent engaged in hands-on building and learning with natural materials. Expect a rich week of natural and community building with the group. We’ll work, learn, eat,and relax with each other in a positive, hard-working, fun atmosphere. Conversation on natural building will provide constant background chatter throughout the week. We’ll work on site every day with a scheduled mid week rest. Evening are typically unscheduled so folks have time to enjoy the site, explore quaint nearby towns, or relax around the fire. Depending on interest, we will schedule discussions and/or presentations on topics such as foundations, wood framing, permitting and codes, fine finishes for after dinner.

The Site:
Our site is Heart Song Sanctuary, a beautiful 45 acre property with two completely finished natural buildings. The site featuring many acres of woods, a cleared meadow, swimming creek and pond. Accommodations for camping include an outdoor shower, compost toilet outhouse, and fire pit/gathering area.

Meals/Food preferences:
We will serve three meals daily, cooked on site by our staff. The food will be mostly vegetarian with a vegan option. Many of the ingredients will be sourced from local farms. Please indicate any food allergies upon registration.

Schedule:
Work on site will begin following breakfast the morning of the date listed. Participants are encouraged to arrive the preceding afternoon/evening to set up camp, and commence the week with an informal dinner and visiting with the team around the fire.

Your Instructor and staff:
Michael McDonough will lead the workshop. He has been working as a natural builder since his 2008 apprenticeship with Ianto Evans at the Cob Cottage Company. He has taught 15 natural building workshops and has worked with a number of natural building leaders including Clark Sanders, Thea Alvin, and Greg Allen. His work can be found at a number of happy homesteads on the east coast, The NC Museum of Life and Science, Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, Oxmoor Farm in Louisville, KY.

What to bring:
* Camping equipment including tent, sleeping bag, flashlight.
* Work clothes and shoes. Short rubber boots or old sneakers for cob, gloves
* Sunscreen, bug spray, hat, water bottle, rain gear
* Tool kit including tool belt, knife, tape measure, pencil, hammer.
* Notebook, building plans or sketches to discuss.

To Register:
Tuition includes a week of camping, workshop experience, meals.
Group rates, discounts for alumni, or those taking multiple courses are possible.

Mail your tuition check to the address below and we will confirm your registration via email.

Rising Earth Natural Building
40 Springwood Manor
Troy, NY 12180

Cob Building Workshop
2019-06-03 - 2019-06-07 | Unnamed Venue, Athens, TN, United States
Dates: June 3 – June 7, 2019
Location: Athens, Tennessee

Come and join us in the beautiful foothills of Athens, Tennessee for our 2019 Cob Building Workshop! We will be constructing a cob house in this workshop. A perfect project for beginners and experts alike! You will get the knowledge to be able to build cob projects scaling from smaller things, such as cob ovens and benches, up to large projects like homes and buildings.
This workshop is a great experience to learn how to build with cob and to get a broad learning overview of natural building techniques. You will get a solid foundation in cob building fundamentals. We will be constructing a fully functional cob house and studying Natural Building together each day. After this workshop, you will have the basic know-how and confidence to design and build your own simple cob constructions or cob building.

Hands-On Work Topics:
– How to make cob (with the traditional tarp method and mixing large batches with a backhoe!)
– Selecting and testing soils for cob (learn several ways to test your soil composition)
– Building cob walls (learn my four steps to efficient cob wall building)
– Creating window and door frames (how to build and attach frames to cob walls)
– Rammed Earth Demonstration (building rammed earth forms and compaction process)

Classroom and Discussion Topics:
– Site selection and design (includes Passive Solar design principles)
– Materials and tools (covers traditional and modern cob building toolset and materials)
– Rubble trench foundations (Plus general foundation building)
– Drainage principles (Important: water can be cob’s worst enemy)
– Basic Electrical and Plumbing integration for cob homes
– Installing windows and doors
– Roofing and Bond Beams
– Natural plasters and finishes (Vapor Permeable / “Breathable” finishes)
– Overview of Natural Building materials

This workshop is a unique experience for people to learn about building cob homes and to get an overview of Natural Building. Not only are there plenty of hands-on lessons to learn from, but we will also have ample discussion and informal classroom time. Most cob workshops don’t cover this many topics. But here, you will learn all the core lessons needed to start building from this one workshop!
Plus – there will be many hours of discussions about building cob homes and natural building throughout the workshop. Its a great way to get your questions answered and brainstorm your building ideas!
The workshop will be held at a private property in Athens, Tennessee.
Each day will begin at 8:00 AM, and the days will include hands-on building, classroom sessions, discussions, and learning activities related to cob and natural building topics. We will break for lunch between 12:30 to 1:30 PM, and we will complete each day at around 5:00 PM. They will be full-packed days! Worth your every penny!
The workshop will be taught by Alex Sumerall, an east coast Natural Builder who has a focus on creating earthen structures that are healthy, aesthetically pleasing, and functional for modern life. He is the owner of This Cob House, LLC, which is dedicated to teaching people about cob and natural building techniques. Alex has a background in business and advertising, and has been practicing Natural Building since 2011. He graduated from the Aprovecho School of Natural Building in 2013 in Cottage Grove, Oregon, and continues to teach, present, consult, and construct.

Listen to the great things that our workshop participants are saying!

“The cob workshop was a life-changing experience. I learned a lot about natural building, not only from Alex’s instruction, experience and demonstrations, but from interacting with people from different backgrounds who were a great source of collective knowledge. The hands-on experience was priceless!” Tony Romo, Texas

“The Cob Building Workshop was a great investment of my time! It was well organized, extremely inspiring, and FUN! Alex was able to explain construction basics to neophytes like me, yet he could also answer the complex questions asked by the more experienced workshop attendees. I can’t wait until the next workshop!”
Marybeth Babos, Tennessee

Lodging
There are two options for lodging: free camping on site, or making reservations at one of the local hotels or AirBnB. There are plenty of lodging options available in the neighboring towns, just a short drive from the workshop site.
Camping is FREE and is available on the property. There are plenty of great locations to set up a tent here. Multiple camp areas are available. Campers will have access to composting toilets and private outdoor showers.
We have water available on-site, but there is little electricity available since this is an off-grid property. We recommend bringing a small solar charger for any cell phones or devices if you are camping on-site.

Food
Meals will not be included in this workshop so participants will need to provide their own food. There are several local restaurants and grocery stores nearby the workshop site.
Each is responsible for their own meal preparation, unless decisions are made to share or combine. An hour for lunch is provided, allowing adequate time for a quick nap, a trip into town, fast food, or cooking over a fire. There is no official kitchen on site. Coolers are welcome and encouraged.

Family & Groups
Ask about discounts. We encourage group & family activities because it enhances learning among your support group. Email me at alex@thiscobhouse.com for custom group/family invoice.
Children/young people of any age are welcome to join in and learn. Please be aware that some areas are under construction, as is the purpose of this workshop. Children are welcome to explore through “hands-on” learning. It’s okay if they play in the dirt.

Prices
Regular Price: $499

Early-Bird Discount Price: $399 (Register and Pay Before April 8th)
Additional Discounts: 10% for family and friends participating together.
Teens accompanying a parent/guardian are half price. Children under 13 accompanying a parent/guardian are free.
Click here to register: http://www.thiscobhouse.com/cob-building-workshop-athens-tennessee-june-2019/
If you have any other questions about the workshop, please feel free to email me at alex@thiscobhouse.com
If you have a large party of people registering, they can all register separately, or contact me for a custom invoice.

Strawbale + Cob Immersion
2019-06-09 - 2019-06-15 | Mud Dauber School of Natural Building, 8813 Lindley Mill Road, Snow Camp, NC, NC, 27349, United States
$800 Earliest Bird Rate (register before March 21st, 2019)
$875 Early Bird Rate (register before May 9th, 2019)
$950 Regular Rate
*10% additional discount for family/friends participating together

Join us as we add onto one of our strawbales cottages in the woods! We will be extending the footprint of the building with a strawbale-insulated bedroom, as well as a slip-straw insulated bathroom. Earthen and lime plastering work can be done on both of those wall systems during the week. We will additionally spend 2 hands-on days with cob wall systems, and some time installing a living roof.
Our workshops are very hands-on! Expect to be building on site for about 7 hours each day. This is supplemented with discussion, presentations, and a home tour of some local natural homes.
Hands-on material:
– strawbale installation
– mixing and installing cob
– slip-straw (AKA: “light straw-clay”) installation
– natural plastering on straw-based wall systems
– mixing and using natural plasters (lime, earth, scratch coat vs. finish coat, etc…)
– harvesting and framing with roundwood
– installing windows and doors
– green roof construction
Discussion topics:
– mixed-media homes: how to combine cob, strawbale, earthen floors, etc..
– cob vs. strawbale vs. slip-straw (benefits and compromises of each)
– foundation options
– roof options
– passive solar design and siting your building
– permitting and building to code
We will enjoy three home-cooked meals each day, focusing on healthy and real foods (and local, where possible!). Two of these meals will be pizza nights at our cob oven! Evenings are generally unscheduled, but usually include campfires and relaxing. Most participants stay on site, in tents or in our rental cabins ($10/night).
There are composting toilets, hot showers, and a pond to swim in. Drinking water is readily available, as is electricity. We are located in Snow Camp, NC ; the closest town is Saxapahaw, which is about 10 minutes away, and has wifi, a coffee shop, a bar, and a general store.

Earthen Building Overview
2019-06-23 08:00 - 2019-06-29 17:00 | Heart Song Sanctuary, 658 Co. Rt. 6, High Falls, NY, 12440, United States
In this course, we’ll work on finishing an existing straw-bale and cob hybrid building. Students will gain a thorough understanding of building with earth in various forms. Including building cob walls, earthen floors, making and applying earth plaster finishes. In addition we will learn about green roofs by installing the drainage and soil layers of our building’s roof.
What to expect:
Our days will be spent engaged in hands-on building and learning with natural materials. Expect a rich week of natural and community building with the group. We’ll work, learn, eat,and relax with each other in a positive, hard-working, fun atmosphere. Conversation on natural building will provide constant background chatter throughout the week. We’ll work on site every day with a scheduled mid week rest. Evening are typically unscheduled so folks have time to enjoy the site, explore quaint nearby towns, or relax around the fire. Depending on interest, we will schedule discussions and/or presentations on topics such as foundations, wood framing, permitting and codes, fine finishes for after dinner.

The Site:
Our site is Heart Song Sanctuary, a beautiful 45 acre property with two completely finished natural buildings. The site featuring many acres of woods, a cleared meadow, swimming creek and pond. Accommodations for camping include an outdoor shower, compost toilet outhouse, and fire pit/gathering area.

Meals/Food preferences:
We will serve three meals daily, cooked on site by our staff. The food will be mostly vegetarian with a
vegan option. Many of the ingredients will be sourced from local farms. Please indicate any food allergies upon registration.

Schedule:
Work on site will begin following breakfast the morning of the date listed. Participants are encouraged to arrive the preceding afternoon/evening to set up camp, and commence the week with an informal dinner and visiting with the team around the fire.

Your Instructor and staff:
Michael McDonough will lead the workshop. He has been working as a natural builder since his 2008 apprenticeship with Ianto Evans at the Cob Cottage Company. He has taught 15 natural building workshops and has worked with a number of natural building leaders including Clark Sanders, Thea Alvin, and Greg Allen. His work can be found at a number of happy homesteads on the east coast, The NC Museum of Life and Science, Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, Oxmoor Farm in Louisville, KY.

What to bring:
* Camping equipment including tent, sleeping bag, flashlight.
* Work clothes and shoes. Short rubber boots or old sneakers for cob, gloves
* Sunscreen, bug spray, hat, water bottle, rain gear
* Tool kit including tool belt, knife, tape measure, pencil, hammer.
* Notebook, building plans or sketches to discuss.

To Register:
Tuition includes a week of camping, workshop experience, meals.
Group rates, and discounts for previous students, or taking multiple courses are possible.

Mail your tuition check to the address below and we will confirm your registration via email.

Rising Earth Natural Building
40 Springwood Manor
Troy, NY 12180

Timber Frame Workshop 2019
2019-06-29 08:20 - 2019-07-05 08:20 | The Year of Mud, 2777 Hammonds Fork Road, Mount Vernon, KY, 40456, United States
Ever wonder what it’s like to build a timber frame from the ground up? Join The Year of Mud this June for a 7 day Timber Frame Workshop near Berea, Kentucky. In this totally hands-on introductory workshop, students will use timeless techniques and traditional hand tools to lay out and join a beautiful timber frame pavilion. Learn valuable new carpentry skills in a gorgeous mountain homestead setting, and discover what it takes to build a long-lived timber structure using mortise & tenon joinery — without depending on nails or screws.

Date: June 29 – July 5, 2019

Location: South Slope Farm, 15 min. outside Berea, Kentucky
Cost and Discounts:
$900 Early Bird Discount (register 15+ days in advance – $150 off savings!)
$1050 Regular Registration (register less than 15 days in advance)
** limited scholarships and barter arrangements available
All-inclusive: Workshop includes camping accommodations, and 3 delicious home-cooked meals a day
Homesteading Experience: Get a glimpse into homestead & off-grid living with natural building tours in our area

Click Here For Registration Details!

Cob Tiny House/Sauna & Bread Oven with Benches at Quinta Boa Vida in Alentejo (Portugal)
2019-06-30 16:00 - 2019-07-28 14:00 | Quinta Boa Vida, Camachinhos, Camachos, Beja, 7630-572, Portugal
PROJECT
This will be the very first workshop hosted on this beautiful new sacred land purchased in January 2019. The only existing building on the land is a 30m2 agricultural support structure made of clay bricks/blocks. While the plan is to develop a small Ecovillage community, the first officially habitable building will not be built until November/December as there is a permit process that I am choosing to adhere to. Thus the first structures we will build in this 4-week workshop will be a 64 ft2/6m2 tiny house/sauna and an oven & benches outside eating area. While the general schedule will be to build the sauna/tiny house in the first 3 weeks and the oven & benches in the last week, we may work on both projects simultaneously allowing for drying time for each one.
Cob Sauna built by Rob Polacek of California Cob
First Cob Oven on international workshop journey…in Fuerteventura, Canaries
The sauna will incorporate all the elements of a house including plumbing for shower & sink on the outside, and can be seen as a tiny home model, which will allow us to complete the whole structure in 3 weeks and include door, windows, arches, shelves, niches, electricity, sculpting, plaster, cob floor and roof. It will be heated with a wood stove attached from the outside as well as radiant floor heating. These two structures will provide warm food and a hot space to detox and cleanse especially in the colder winter months!
The oven and benches will be part of an outdoor eating area, on another part of the land.
HOST
Your hosts will be yours truly, me, Claudine, and my new neighbors Frank and Judith, who will be offering optional indoor accommodations and preparing our delicious vegetarian meals (Judith is a professional chef) in their beautiful outdoor kitchen/eating area they have remodeled from a traditional adobe animal grange.
After 4 years on a bike on the road through 4 continents teaching 25 cob workshops in 12 countries in

Carrancas, Brazil Workshop April 2018

West Africa, Western Europe, South & North America, I have concluded this long-term discovery and service journey (for now) to settle down on a warm, welcoming land in southwest Portugal with deep gratitude. While transitioning from a continuous nomad lifestyle, for now, is an intense emotional and physical change, I know I will continue doing my service work in the World as long as I can while enjoying planting trees and roots and growing beautiful artsy living structures that feed the Soul and beautify the Planet.
Being a global Earth activist I believe deeply in the transformational power of gathering a group of people committed to Growth, Change and Peaceful Living on Earth and teaching them how to build a clean, organic, healthy home while watching a new cob family open their Hearts, Minds and Souls to each other and to Spirit! This has been my continued inspiration!!! May it spread wide with more Cobbers and more beautiful and healing Cob houses all over the Planet!
LOCATION
Quinta Boa Vida is located in Camachinhos (Google “Camachos, Beja”), a secret nook of sacred land surrounded by a creek and agricultural land on the north side and cork oak and “medronho” forested uplands on the south. The land starts out flat and then rises uphill on both sides of a valley to a breathtaking view of the Alentejo landscape of gently rolling hills covered by cork oak, farms, sheep, goats, lakes and rivers. This part of Portugal has a very peaceful and healing energy with much space to ponder and quest. Quinta Boa Vida is nestled between the larger towns of Odemira and São Teotonio and a 20-minute car ride to the wild beautiful sunset beaches of the Alentejo National Park directly west.

WEEKS 1-3: ADVANCED COB WORKSHOP
While the Advanced Cob Workshops are usually 5 weeks long, since we will be building a smaller building we will be able to complete it in a shorter time. As we build this 64ft2/6m2 structure I will lecture on and we will build all the elements (foundation, walls, floor, roof) of a standard cob cottage built in other workshops, except for plumbing, which will only be explained in lecture. Students will receive the Advanced Cobber Certificate from CruzinCobGlobal upon completion.

DETAILED COURSE CONTENTS
Students will learn every phase of building a cob building from foundation through the roof completion in lectures and theory (plumbing only in lecture). In addition to the lectures, slideshows and videos will be shown to support and enhance understanding of cob materials, cob building, design, geography , budgeting, business options and legal issues
Our hands-on practice will include:

location analysis & choice
digging foundation trench
pouring gravel & inserting drainage pipe (if needed)
building stemwall
analyzing soils & materials
making test bricks
calculating correct mixture
making cob solo & wth partner
building with cob
preparing & inserting door
preparing & inserting fixed & opening windows
preparing & inserting shelves
cutting bottles & inserting them
inserting other artistic/functional objects into wall
making niches & arches
inserting electrical wiring in wall
sculpting
earthen plaster (1 coat)
earthen floor (2 coats) with radiant tubing
preparing wall for roof connection
building reciprocal frame roof structure
building a green roof covering
attaching woodstove to wall (time permitting)

In addition to Cob Building practices, the Course material also includes:

legal Cob
cost analysis
creating a cob business (building/teaching)
assisting, interning and teching with CruzinCobGlobal
making small-scale designs of cob dream structures, time permitting

WEEK 4: OVEN & BENCHES
In the final week we will build a community-size pizza and bread oven for all the neighbors to use weekly and to host community gatherings! We will also surround the oven with beautiful cob benches to enjoy the warm and cool evenings of the Alentejo celebrating life, good food and good people. If possible we will celebrate the completion of the oven by lighting it and enjoying the fruits of our labor!
WORKSHOP SCHEDULE
This 28-day Hybrid Cob Workshop begins on Sunday evening, June 30, with Dinner and ends on Sunday, July 28 with Lunch. Mondays through Fridays we will build and Saturdays/Sundays we will have time off to rest, go to the beach, and visit the area. The last Saturday, July 27, will be used to wrap things up and clean up, as well as for a final group activity before our celebration dinner and graduation ceremony. On Sunday morning, July 28, we will have Breakfast followed by a Closing Circle and Lunch, to conclude the workshop.
The daily schedule (subject to change due to climate) will be:
6:30-7:30 Yoga & Meditation/Dance
7:30-8:30 Breakfast
8:45-1:00 Class
1:00-2:00 Lunch
2:00-3:00 Lecture (MWF)
3:30-6:30 Beach or Reservoir/Relaxing/Community Activities & Games/Yoga/Dance/Massage
7:30-8:30 Dinner
8:30-9:30 Slides/Videos/Discussion (Wednesdays)
Other nights will have optional activities like Salsa Dancing, Fire Circles, Music, Rituals, Massage, Sweat Lodge, and mostly hanging out together…
REQUIREMENTS AND IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING PHYSICAL WORK
CruzinCobGlobal’s Cob Building workshops are an intense and demanding building experience. The goal of our 28-Day Hybrid Cob Workshop is to complete a whole structure including the roof covering in three weeks! This is quite an accomplishment and when completed, give students alot of pride and confidence in building on their own after the workshop. The Monday through Friday schedule is rigorous and meant to train students in experiencing what it takes to build a cob building in a reasonable amount of time. However since we will be building something about half the size of what we usually build in our 5-week workshop with the same number of people it will not be as rigorous. We also have a great time bonding, playing music, doing Yoga, sitting around the fire and relaxing after class time. Students can use weekends to rest, recuperate and enjoy getting to know the location. We accept all levels and abilities and students are never required to go beyond what they feel comfortable with. There are always other activities besides mixing and building which are needed to build the house (getting materials, trimming, screening material, cutting straw, sculpting, plaster, etc) and students learn alot by watching
Students will need to come prepared for physical work from Day 1.
This includes:
Work clothes appropriate for the country and climate we are in (long pants for Muslim countries)
Slip-on flip-flops
Work Boots or Closed Shoes for Foundation and Roof, if applicable
Lightweight rubber gloves (not gardening gloves)
Good moisturizer (clay is drying and dehydrating!)
Hat
Water Bottle
Notebook/Pen/Camera
A 2 ft level and sharp-toothed wood saw (requested but optional)
Students are required to read “The Hand-Sculpted House” before the workshop begins and any other book they find, as well as watching videos on YouTube, especially the ones posted on CruzinCobGlobal’s website under Gallery to get an idea of what is expected. Please bring your book(s).
Students must tend to their own personal needs, drink alot of water, rest when needed and exert themselves at a steady pace. Students who cannot do the strenuous physical work should let us know before the workshop begins so we can adjust appropriately. It is totally OK to come for the lecture/theory part, and then help the building part in less physically demanding ways, ie cutting straw, sifting for plaster, hammering nails into frames or shelves, sculpting, plastering, cutting bottles. There is alot to do besides making and building with cob!!!!
Finally, please bring a watch or use your phone to be prompt and ready for each part of the Course including meals. Feel free to share your dietary needs with CCG or the Host and bring your essential snacks and foods, pillow and whatever you NEED to be comfortable and happy. Feel free to also bring slides, videos, movies and books to share, as well as a sample of your soil to test.
MEALS & ACCOMMODATIONS
This workshop will be on raw land so the accommodations will be camping in your own tents for free or paying a very reaonable price for shared accommodations in our neighbors’ beautiful and comfortable wooden bungalows or teepee. Days are hot and dry at this time of the year and average in the mid-80’s Farenheit or 30 degrees Celsius which is why we plan to head to the water in the afternoons to cool off and enjoy some community or solo downtime. Nights should be quite enjoyable. Please bring some warm clothes for the nighttime just in case.
Dinner will be served on the first Sunday and last Saturday, and Breakfast & Lunch on the last Sunday. Otherwise three meals/day will be served Monday through Friday. Weekends students will be on their own but can use the kitchen facilities to prepare meals. Meals will be vegetarian and delicious as we will have a professional chef. If you need meat or other additional nutritional support please bring it or speak with Host about how to get it onsite. We may have a few fish/meat meals, maybe once a week, if there is a desire.
TRAVEL LOGISTICS

Getting to this beautiful spot is simple but takes time. From Lisbon airport you can take a train to Saboia-Santa Clara with CP (Comboios Portugal), the national train company, for 9-20€ one way, depending on how early you buy it. It’s only 3 metro stops on the red line from the airport and then a 2-hour ride south, where we will pick you up for the 20 minute car ride to the land.
You can also take the train in from Faro which is only one hour and 5-7€.
You can take buses to Odemira or São Teotónio for 20€ and we will pick you up.
You can look for rides with BlaBlaCar
You can drive in, bike in, walk in, crawl in, hitchike in or maybe carpool with another student!

PAYMENT
We are offering 3 prices depending on when you pay in full.

Very Early Bird Price: 1500€, includes free camping + meals (M-F)
Early Bird Price: 1600€, includes free camping + meals (M-F)
Full Price: 1700€, includes free camping + meals (M-F)

For indoor accommodations, Frank and Judith offer a few choices:
Casinha Heidi : 12€/person/night for 4 people or 17€/person/night for 2 people
Casinha Primavera: 12€/person/night for 2 people
Teepee: 5€/person/night for 2 people

These accommodations and fees will be added to the workshop price above.
You can see the outdoor kitchen area that will be ours for the month!
For final payment balance please contact Claudine
Payment can be made by Venmo, Paypal, Zelle, free Bank Transfer to US or European Bank account or Transferwise. Please contact Claudine to register and make your payment and learn how to avoid transaction fees at claudine@cruzincobglobal.org or +1831212-7225 by phone, SMS or Whatsapp.

WORK TRADE
There are 2 work trade positions open in all weeks of the workshop for 1.25 hours a day in either the kitchen or onsite. Each position gives 45€/week of discount or 180€ off for the 4-week workshop. No experience is needed and they will not interfere with your class hours.
The kitchen work trade positions will most likely be in charge of preparing and putting out breakfast from 6:45-7:30am and cleaning up from 8:15-8:30am. The onsite work trade positions will also be early morning shifts prepping the work site from 7:00-8:00am before breakfast.
Please inquire asap as these are the first spots to go.
INSTRUCTOR
Claudine Désirée, founder and director of CCG, learned how to cob with Michael Smith in 2003 in northern CA and has been building and teaching ever since completing her first project, a 200 ft2 studio, in her backyard in Santa Cruz, CA. In 2014, she was one of the first people to legalize a cob building on the west coast of the US, where the building code laws are the most stringent due to high earthquake risk.
In 2008, she created SunflowerCobBuilding which became CruzinCob and then, in April 2015, evolved into CruzinCobGlobal, the international cob workshop business she runs from wherever she happens to be on the Planet. To date she has taught close to 100 workshops, 25 of which have been part of CCG’s exciting international circuit since the Spring of 2015 in the following countries: Spain, the Canaries (Spain), Senegal, Cabo Verde, France, Morocco, Portugal, the Azores (Portugal), Colombia, Brazil and the US.
This is a very exciting time now that COB will soon be part of the International Residential Building Code (IRC) thanks to Claudine and Cob Research Institute architects and engineers working hard to submit testing data and a proposed building code in 2019.

Complete cob and natural building intensive (includes building an earthen oven and a wood-fired hot tub)
2019-07-03 15:00 - 2019-07-13 14:00 | House Alive, 7540 Griffin Lane, Jacksonville, OR, 97530, United States
(The workshop start with dinner on the first day and end with lunch on the last day)
​Fee: $1275
Maximum class size: 16 students
Our 2019 workshop “complete Cob and Natural building” is already full; send us an email if you would like to be added to the waiting list. We will be doing several workshops in 2020 and will post them on the web in September. To get an alert about this, please sign up for our newsletter.
​Included in the fee:

Instructions
camping spot
3 vegetarian meals, Coffee, tea, water
Our book “House of Earth”
VersaTerra Certificate
Transportation from Medford airport or bus station.

Instructor Conrad Rogue and Kyle Chandler-Isacksen

​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 conventional construction.
We will teach you how to use clay-soil to build just about everything. From strong structural walls (cob and Adobe) to beautiful floors, plasters and light-straw-clay walls. Because the materials are fireproof, they are ideally suited to sculpt ovens, fireplaces and cook stoves.The essence of your learning experience will revolve around developing a deep understanding of how to process and combine a few simple materials: clay-soil, sand and straw. How you apply that in your building adventures is then up to you, but you will find the possibilities endless and exciting.
During this workshop we will build a beautiful garden wall and an earthen bread/pizza oven. Within the wall, we will incorporate all the features of a wall that would be part of a earthen house: Windows, doors, electricity, plumbing, arches, niches, and artwork.
(We don’t think it’s a good idea to start a whole building in a shorter workshop (as attractive as that may sound); it will have people do too much of one thing (mixing cob and wall building) and will not able to learn the other important aspects of natural building in a meaningful way, such as roof variations, natural plasters, earthen floors and design.)

What will you learn
After this workshop, you will feel confident that you can

build yourself a cob cottage
remodel, renovate an existing home, using natural materials
build and use an earthen oven
build and use a wood-fired hot tub
use cob to create garden walls, outdoor fireplaces, patios, benches, etc.
design small cottages
teach a one-day natural building event yourself!

Specifically, you will get hands-on experience and skill development in the following areas:

Foundation systems, rubble trench, stem walls, earthbag construction (as a stem wall)
Identifying the right materials, screening, processing, testing, costs, amount calculations
Mixing cob efficiently, making adobe bricks
Building with cob: strong sculptural walls, arches, windows and doors, niches, artwork and mosaics
electricity and plumbing, how to install wires and pipes in the walls
roof attachment and roof design
Light-straw-clay: this is an infill techniques perfect for code approved buildings and natural renovations of existing homes. You will learn how to make the right materials and how to install them
Natural plasters, tools, making your own plasters and paints, colors, applications, how to apply it on earthen walls, drywall, wood, concrete
Tamped floors, finish earthen floors in natural buildings, earthen floors in existing homes on plywood, oriented strand board and concrete
Earthen ovens: from start to finish and how to use them (we will be baking pizza in the oven we will build)
wood-fired hot tubs: size, materials, chimneys
Different design strategies, natural design essentials, passive solar, using cob to make models
Building codes, how they work, how to work around them

During every workshop we make time for specific issues related to individual situations. This usually include a careful look at different climates and regions, living with families or in communities, dealing with the building code, physical and financial challenges, appropriate technologies and more.
Our book “House of Earth” will be used as a textbook for the workshop.

The daily schedule

We are aware that students make a big investment in a workshop such as this. We honor your time and do the best we can to share our knowledge and experience. Expect long days with lots of building and learning. In the evenings we will show slides and films, featuring our previous projects and that of other people and cultures. Believe it or not, we also still like to make time for a campfire and some music. We always strive to make the workshop itself a comfortable, memorable and fun experience.
7;30 breakfast
8:30 building with cob
1:00 lunch
2:30 other techniques, lectures and oven building
6;30 Dinner
7:00 free time/slide shows/campfire
​

About the site

The workshop will take place at the House Alive homestead in Southern Oregon, 15 minutes away from the historic town of Jacksonville (check out the Britt music festival to see if there is something you want to see while you are nearby!) Our site is dotted with a dozen or so cob cottages, garden walls, ovens, and also has a code approved hybrid house (straw bale, cob, conventional).
As a student you will get first hand experiences of composting toilets, solar cookers, solar showers, off-grid photo-voltaic charging and other forms of appropriate technologies.
​House Alive is located in the Siskiyou mountain range and has a mixed pine/oak/fir forest. Our homestead is peaceful and safe. The weather this time of the year is sunny and warm (sometimes hot) and the evenings/nights are cool. Rain is rare, but possible.
You will be provided with a flat, private and shady camping spot. We also have hot showers, composting toilets, and internet.

VersaTerra* certification
After full participation, every student will receive a VersaTerra certificate. We believe that after taking this workshop, participants are qualified to teach at least a one-day event in their neighborhood. The certificate will also allow you to promote your event(s) through the House Alive Facebook page. By providing a certificate, we want to empower our student to become facilitators of community revitalization through building with earth!
​*VersaTerra is a holistic design, building and living philosophy, celebrating clay-soil as its primary building material. Clay-soil is:

plentiful, inexpensive or free, durable, easy to maintain and modify, and endlessly reusable
non-toxic, breathable, soft, beautiful, and displays superior performance in a wide variety of climates
sculptural by nature, inviting to work with needing only simple tools and methods, and easily combines with other natural and human made materials.

By focusing on these specific qualities of clay-soil, we can make the design, building and living process a conduit for community revitalization and personal transformation, while creating housing with dignity for the people of this world.
Click here to read more about Versaterra

Bringing kids!
We welcome the participation of young ones. In past workshops they have always been a welcome addition to our group and have participated in the learning process at different levels, depending on their age and interest.

Children age 0-3 can come along for free,
ages 4-12 the fee is $450
ages 13-17 the fee is $700

Registration
​It’s easy to register for this workshop, go to our registration page, fill out the simple form and send in a deposit to secure your spot(s). These workshops have often have filled to capacity, so don’t wait too long if you think this workshop is for you!

Fast Cob! It IS a revolution in Natural Building…
2019-07-04 15:30 - 2019-07-08 16:00 | Lasqueti Island, 1 Beautiful Bicycle Lane, Lasqueti Island, BC, V0R 2J0, Canada
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 we call Fast Cob!
Compare that to his first building, built with the traditional West Coast Cob technique: a 64 sq.ft. utility shed that needed 28 people and 2 building seasons to complete.
This long weekend course will introduce you to Fast Cob! At a relaxed pace, we’ll learn and practice mixing and building with our Fast Cob technique. Then we’ll learn two different natural plasters and whitewash it all with a lime-based natural paint. We’ll even spice it up with natural pigments.
In between hands-on Fast Cob! sessions, we’ll touch on foundations, electrical, plumbing, upper floors, roofs, and general design. You can’t get everything you need to go off and start building on your own in this short course, but it will start you off on the right foot. You will feel empowered and if you’re keen, you definitely could go off and build a small shed right away…which is what we recommend to start with anyway!

Cob Building Workshop
2019-07-08 - 2019-07-12 | Unnamed Venue, Athens, TN, United States
Dates: July 8 – July 12, 2019
Location: Athens, Tennessee

Come and join us in the beautiful foothills of Athens, Tennessee for our 2019 Cob Building Workshop! We will be constructing a cob house in this workshop. A perfect project for beginners and experts alike! You will get the knowledge to be able to build cob projects scaling from smaller things, such as cob ovens and benches, up to large projects like homes and buildings.
This workshop is a great experience to learn how to build with cob and to get a broad learning overview of natural building techniques. You will get a solid foundation in cob building fundamentals. We will be constructing a fully functional cob house and studying Natural Building together each day. After this workshop, you will have the basic know-how and confidence to design and build your own simple cob constructions or cob building.

Hands-On Work Topics:
– How to make cob (with the traditional tarp method and mixing large batches with a backhoe!)
– Selecting and testing soils for cob (learn several ways to test your soil composition)
– Building cob walls (learn my four steps to efficient cob wall building)
– Creating window and door frames (how to build and attach frames to cob walls)
– Rammed Earth Demonstration (building rammed earth forms and compaction process)

Classroom and Discussion Topics:
– Site selection and design (includes Passive Solar design principles)
– Materials and tools (covers traditional and modern cob building toolset and materials)
– Rubble trench foundations (Plus general foundation building)
– Drainage principles (Important: water can be cob’s worst enemy)
– Basic Electrical and Plumbing integration for cob homes
– Installing windows and doors
– Roofing and Bond Beams
– Natural plasters and finishes (Vapor Permeable / “Breathable” finishes)
– Overview of Natural Building materials

This workshop is a unique experience for people to learn about building cob homes and to get an overview of Natural Building. Not only are there plenty of hands-on lessons to learn from, but we will also have ample discussion and informal classroom time. Most cob workshops don’t cover this many topics. But here, you will learn all the core lessons needed to start building from this one workshop!
Plus – there will be many hours of discussions about building cob homes and natural building throughout the workshop. Its a great way to get your questions answered and brainstorm your building ideas!
The workshop will be held at a private property in Athens, Tennessee.
Each day will begin at 8:00 AM, and the days will include hands-on building, classroom sessions, discussions, and learning activities related to cob and natural building topics. We will break for lunch between 12:30 to 1:30 PM, and we will complete each day at around 5:00 PM. They will be full-packed days! Worth your every penny!
The workshop will be taught by Alex Sumerall, an east coast Natural Builder who has a focus on creating earthen structures that are healthy, aesthetically pleasing, and functional for modern life. He is the owner of This Cob House, LLC, which is dedicated to teaching people about cob and natural building techniques. Alex has a background in business and advertising, and has been practicing Natural Building since 2011. He graduated from the Aprovecho School of Natural Building in 2013 in Cottage Grove, Oregon, and continues to teach, present, consult, and construct.

Listen to the great things that our workshop participants are saying!

“The cob workshop was a life-changing experience. I learned a lot about natural building, not only from Alex’s instruction, experience and demonstrations, but from interacting with people from different backgrounds who were a great source of collective knowledge. The hands-on experience was priceless!” Tony Romo, Texas

“The Cob Building Workshop was a great investment of my time! It was well organized, extremely inspiring, and FUN! Alex was able to explain construction basics to neophytes like me, yet he could also answer the complex questions asked by the more experienced workshop attendees. I can’t wait until the next workshop!”
Marybeth Babos, Tennessee

Lodging
There are two options for lodging: free camping on site, or making reservations at one of the local hotels or AirBnB. There are plenty of lodging options available in the neighboring towns, just a short drive from the workshop site.
Camping is FREE and is available on the property. There are plenty of great locations to set up a tent here. Multiple camp areas are available. Campers will have access to composting toilets and private outdoor showers.
We have water available on-site, but there is little electricity available since this is an off-grid property. We recommend bringing a small solar charger for any cell phones or devices if you are camping on-site.

Food
Meals will not be included in this workshop so participants will need to provide their own food. There are several local restaurants and grocery stores nearby the workshop site.
Each is responsible for their own meal preparation, unless decisions are made to share or combine. An hour for lunch is provided, allowing adequate time for a quick nap, a trip into town, fast food, or cooking over a fire. There is no official kitchen on site. Coolers are welcome and encouraged.

Family & Groups
Ask about discounts. We encourage group & family activities because it enhances learning among your support group. Email me at alex@thiscobhouse.com for custom group/family invoice.
Children/young people of any age are welcome to join in and learn. Please be aware that some areas are under construction, as is the purpose of this workshop. Children are welcome to explore through “hands-on” learning. It’s okay if they play in the dirt.

Prices
Regular Price: $499

Early-Bird Discount Price: $399 (Register and Pay Before April 8th)
Additional Discounts: 10% for family and friends participating together.
Teens accompanying a parent/guardian are half price. Children under 13 accompanying a parent/guardian are free.
Click here to register: http://www.thiscobhouse.com/cob-building-workshop-athens-tennessee-july-2019/
If you have any other questions about the workshop, please feel free to email me at alex@thiscobhouse.com
If you have a large party of people registering, they can all register separately, or contact me for a custom invoice.

Traditional Round Pole Timber Framing
2019-07-26 - 2019-08-01 | Abuela Gardens, 4649 Bear Canyon Rd., Willits, CA, 95490, United States
This is the first 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 round pole timber framing, an attractive structural skeleton that can accompany many natural wall systems. The first part of the workshop will cover:

Design Overview;

Structural considerations;

Aesthetic considerations;

How to interface timber frames with cob, straw bale & clay wattle;

Preparing logs (peeling, washing, relief cuts, curing);

Mortise & tenon joinery – the defining element of timber framing. Demonstrations will be provided followed by hands-on sessions with coaching;

Layout and set up;

Cutting tenons;

Cutting housings;

Cutting mortises;

Honing and fitting joints;

Pegging joints with hardwood dowels;

Cutting & fitting braces;

Assembling & raising a “bent” frame.

The extended practicum will cover:

Assembling, raising and linking more “bent” frames;

Positioning and leveling the structure;

Bolting frames to the foundation;

Rafter fitting (if time allows).

Each workshop is organized into two parts, the weekend Intensive (Friday through Sunday) will include the bulk of theoretical and practical training, followed by a 4-day Practicum (Monday through Thursday) focused on hands-on building experience. Participants are encouraged to attend both the workshop and practicum for the full experience, which is incentivized by a reduced workshop tuition. Workshops fees include an all-organic lunch and dinner as well as camping/housing options and an early morning yoga class.
For friends interested in going deep we are inviting 6 people to do an immersion through the Natural Building series. This immersion allows participants to attend workshops for free and have all meals provided in exchange for weekly work hours, primarily toward building, but also other supportive tasks for workshop prep and facility maintenance. ​
Instructors are Eric Lassotovitch and Colin Gillespie of polecraftsolutions.com.
Colin has worked in the construction trades for over 10 years, with previous experience in integrative landscaping. He has dedicated himself to the study and mindful application of Natural Building, Permaculture Design, Eco-forestry, and Sociology. Son of an architect and a physicist, his attention to detail coupled with a passion for smart buildings and landscapes has inspired him to produce exemplary structures combining the benefits of modern and ancient building techniques. Elegant round-pole timber frame with straw bale infill constructions with robust contoured plasters are his specialty and have been featured in many of the projects he has led. In addition to his familiarity with standard stud construction, he is also known for his use of a variety of natural building techniques involving local resources such as wood, clay, and rock. He champions keen observation, considerate visioning, and thorough planning, all tempered with good humor to allow long-term efficient function and beauty to emerge naturally.
Eric is a licensed building contractor in Northern California. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from California College Arts and Crafts, Oakland, CA. Upon moving to Mendocino County in Northern California he began homesteading his property in 1989 and as a natural extension of his passion for the subject, started helping others homestead their properties. He advocates keeping the goals of energy efficiency, affordability, and appropriate usage of local materials always in mind. The appeal of using the small diameter trees that currently need to be thinned from many tracts of forests in Mendocino County has inspired him to use his drawing skills to manifest new tools and techniques for Polecraft Solution’s unique approach to round-pole timber framing. Using 3D modeling software has enabled him to have a more satisfactory dialog with clients by showing them a better approximation of how their final project will appear. Other home building projects Eric has been involved in include homes and garden walls of rammed earth, straw bale homes, panelized yurt homes, and traditional stick framed homes. Eric has also created custom details for homes including cabinetry, tables, entry gates, local hardwood floors, and various tile projects. He and his wife Cindy enjoy seeing how hard work and dedication to sustainable living helps their community to thrive.

Fast Cob! A revolution in Natural Building…
2019-08-15 15:30 - 2019-08-19 16:00 | Lasqueti Island, 1 Beautiful Bicycle Lane, Lasqueti Island, BC, V0R 2J0, Canada
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 we call Fast Cob!
Compare that to his first building, built with the traditional West Coast Cob technique: a 64 sq.ft. utility shed that needed 28 people and 2 building seasons to complete.
This long weekend course will introduce you to Fast Cob! At a relaxed pace, we’ll learn and practice mixing and building with our Fast Cob technique. Then we’ll learn two different natural plasters and whitewash it all with a lime-based natural paint. We’ll even spice it up with natural pigments.
In between hands-on Fast Cob! sessions, we’ll touch on foundations, electrical, plumbing, upper floors, roofs, and general design. You can’t get everything you need to go off and start building on your own in this short course, but it will start you off on the right foot. You will feel empowered and if you’re keen, you could go off and build a small shed right away…and who knows where that will lead you!

Natural Building Part 1: Straw Bales, Cob and Earthen Floors
2019-08-16 - 2019-10-22 | Abuela Gardens, 4649 Bear Canyon Rd., Willits, CA, 95490, United States
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. This workshop will focus on clay and straw, two of the most versatile natural building materials. In the first part of the workshop, you will learn to:
• Build a highly insulating and fire-resistant straw bale wall
• Mix clay soil, sand and straw into cob
• Sculpt cob into beautiful, durable walls
• Sustainably harvest and test clay soils
• Determine the best cob mix for your soil
• Understand the difference between insulation and thermal mass and how to use them together to make an efficient passive solar home
The extended practicum will focus on faster ways to mix and build with cob using machines, sculpting cob details, and how to install an earthen floor.
Each workshop is organized into two parts, the weekend Intensive (Friday through Sunday) will include the bulk of theoretical and practical training, followed by a 4-day Practicum (Monday through Thursday) focused on hands-on building experience. Participants are encouraged to attend both the workshop and practicum for the full experience, which is incentivized by a reduced workshop tuition. Workshops fees include an all-organic lunch and dinner as well as camping/housing options and an early morning yoga class.
For friends interested in going deep we are inviting 6 people to do an immersion through the Natural Building series. This immersion allows participants to attend workshops for free and have all meals provided in exchange for weekly work hours, primarily toward building, but also other supportive tasks for workshop prep and facility maintenance. ​
Lead instructor Michael G. Smith is one of the world’s authorities on building with earth and straw with over 25 years of teaching experience. In 1993, Michael co-founded the Cob Cottage Company, which reintroduced cob building to the United States. He is the author or co-author of many articles and books, including “The Art of Natural Building” and “The Hand-Sculpted House.” Michael has designed and/or built over 60 natural structures, specializing in space- and energy-efficient hybrid designs. Learn more at http://strawclaywood.com

Cob, Balecob, Light straw clay Extravaganza
2019-08-16 15:00 - 2019-08-25 14:00 | Allie and Chloe’s land, 25563 Hall Rd, Junction City, OR, 97448, United States
Location: outside Junction City OR
Instructor: Allie Maggio and others
Start date:Friday August 16, 2019
End date:Sunday August 25, 2019
Cost:$850
Accommodations: Includes all meals, camping is available free of charge
Registration, Discounts, and Related Information: CALL Allie at 541-two85-3369

FOR REGISTRATION BOOK DIRECTLY WITH ALLIE at 541-two85-3369 or email him at at JustRejoiceChloe@gmail.com ~ do not book this course through the Cob Cottage office.

*Register and prepay before Fathers Day to save 10% at $765 rate, after June 16th full price applies. Other discounts available, just ask.

DESCRIPTION:

Join us in beautiful Oregon, for a 9 day intensive, our most comprehensive combined cob and natural building course available. In this expanded version of our most popular program ever, we’ll take the ground from under your feet and turn it into a versatile medium to sculpt a structure. You will learn construction of cob walls, framing in of doors and windows, artistic detail and some finish work too.We will have daily discussion time for roofing options, foundations, passive solar, siting, design, soils and whatever else we can share. In addition, we will introduce you to an array of other natural building wall systems and show you how to merge these natural building materials to remodel, insulate, and add to existing wood framed buildings. Earthen plasters will also be discussed and demonstrated. (Please note that the foundation will be completed prior to the workshop. However we will learn the components of it’s construction. If you would like to volunteer to help with the building of the foundation prior to the workshop, please let us know.)
DON’T MISS THIS ONE, FOLKS!!!! This will be an incredible experience for those desiring too add many techniques to your natural building skillset. You’ll leave confident enough to build a cob structure of your own or to naturally renovate an existing stick frame building!

THE TEAM:

Allie Maggio was a lead instructor and primary teaching partner of Ianto Evans at Cob Cottage Company, where he lived with his family for several years.And more recently has been teaching and contract building in Oregon and the Southwest US.

This is a family affair,so Allie’s wife and daughter, Chloe and Annina Maggio are the mother daughter cooking duo, who will make sure you are well fed three meals a day from local organic farms.

And there will be other TBA team members to help on the worksite and in the kitchen. In my opinion there are not near enough cob and natural building opportunities being offered out there-we need more like YOU to come learn and pay the knowledge forward for all!!! Hope you can make it!

THE PROJECT:

The workshop will be held at the Maggio family home on 16 acres nestled between the coast range and the fertile Willamette valley.We are located 25 minutes from downtown Eugene Oregon and about 15 minutes to the smaller towns of Junction City and Veneta. On the property there are 2 existing cob structures that we have built, a chicken coop and a family home, and a conventionally built house, that will provide the opportunity for learning natural building techniques like slip straw insulation, plastering on drywall, etc. to use on the home you already live in.
The main building projects will be a cob bath house, a balecob pantry, and natural building methods on a conventionally built house.
This is not just an opportunity to learn cob and natural building but to co-create something even greater for the future good of those who come next. Your participation in this project will continue to inspire others for years. You are not coming to just learn ABOUT cob and natural building, but learning FROM cob and natural building. We hope you can join us.

Build a Complete Cob Cottage near the Yuba River (Nevada City, California)
2019-08-18 16:00 - 2019-09-22 14:00 | Yubarrio Village, New Rome Road, Nevada City, CA, 95959
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 feasting and allowing the vision for the project to unfold in its own sweet time.

Claire, born and raised in Marseille, France and Kipchoge, an Oregon native, met in Europe when he and his friends were on a pedal-powered music concert tour. A few years later they started looking for their new “home” and eventually settled on this gorgeous hilltop piece of land about 4 years ago, putting their nomad life on hold. This beautiful Nevada County mostly forested land is close to the Yuba River and is the source of their wood (they mill it themselves) and includes a large vegetable and herb garden. Claire is a photographer and herbal medicine maker and food lover/crafstwoman. Her energy for this lifestyle is overbounding and full of ideas and projects to live cleanly and abundantly with the land. Her photography work (including mountain lions and bears) is visible on her website and instagram (https://www.clairepotin.com/, instagram.com/potin.potions). Kipchoge is a bike touring musician (YouTube: Ginger Ninjas/Pleasant Revolution) and activist working on software for mass popular movement building (cancelprime.com). He co-founded and led Xtracycle for years, pioneering the modern cargo bike movement and enabling a new generation of car-free and car-light lifestyles. The couple have a very energetic 5-year old son Zephyr who represents his name well.

The land is shared with several other community members who specialize in different areas to bring their skills to the blend. One of them who has lived here for a year is Brandon “Nutmeg” Jonutz, a Romanian descendant born in Fremont who lives car free, loves ferments, favors bare feet, blows didgeridoos and wouldn’t be caught dead with a website. We will be building Brandon’s new cottage in the shade of the madrones and black oaks on a soft, fluffy forest floor. We will also be meeting other landmates like Camille the crafter, Jesse the traveler/builder/bassist, Paul the inventor, and Shannon the cellist.

Nevada City

Nevada City, California is a unique and charming little town in the Sierra Nevada Foothills area. The entire downtown district is a national historic landmark where folks enjoy high quality restaurants and a variety of fine shops , galleries, and great cafes. There is a vibrant artsy feel to the town with lots of opportunity to dance to world class DJ’s that come through town, yoga studios, as well as Ecstatic Dance every Tuesday hosted in the historic Miner’s Foundry. Bordering the Tahoe National Forest and located just minutes from many lakes and rivers, Nevada City is ringed by deep green pine-covered hills.
One of the main attractions of the town, especially in the summertime, is the magical Yuba river with miles of beautiful emerald green swimming holes! Swimming in the river is a staple summer activity. Temperatures can get pretty hot, up to 100 degrees in August/Sept, but more generally in the high

Yuba River

80s to mid 90s in town. Our land is a bit higher (2600ft) from the town center (and a 10 minute drive) and so it can be up to 10 degrees cooler here. By September the evenings and early mornings have the potential to be a bit chilly, so good to bring something warm. There are plenty of beautiful places to explore around the area on your weekends off – famous Lake Tahoe (largest alpine lake and second deepest lake in United States) is only about an hour away, Reno is 1.5 hrs, San Francisco is 2.5hrs and the ocean is a 4.5 hr drive to the magical coast town of Mendocino. There are also great hot springs – Sierra Hot Springs – an hour and a half away, for our weekend adventures when we take a break from Cob!!!

WEEKS 1-5: ADVANCED COB BUILDING WORKSHOP
The 35-day Advanced Cob Building Workshop consists of 25 days of theoretical instruction (lectures with graphics) and construction for 4 hours in the morning and 3 hours in the afternoon. Students arrive on Sunday and settle in. International students can check with Host about arriving earlier to adjust to time difference, etc. Weekends (Saturday and Sunday) are days off for resting, exploring the area, studying and, if desired, continuing to build at your own pace. The last Saturday morning may include some finishing up work and cleanup. Morning (4 hours) and afternoon (3 hours) sessions each have a 15-minute snack break. Lunch break lasts 1.5 hours after which the afternoon session begins at 2:30pm. On MWF we have a one-hour lecture on whatever we are working on that day and/or the next day, followed by construction for 2 hours. On TTh we begin the practical work at 2:30pm. After class there is a 90-minute break before dinner, which includes an optional yoga or other body relaxation session. There will also be one evening a week after dinner for showing slides, videos and having Course-related discussions. Other evenings are free and/or organized by group for extracurricular activities as desired.
The 35-day Course will offer practical learning by building a 150ft2 (size may be a bit bigger or smaller depending on number of students) curvilinear building. The Course starts with the Foundation during Week 1 followed by the Cob Walls during Weeks 2-4, which include a door, opening and fixed windows, shelves, artistic inserts like bottles, driftwood, branches, etc., electrical and plumbing infrastructure, sculpting and the roof connection elements. We will also pour the first 2 layers of floor over the gravel underlayment and apply one coat of earthen plaster on the interior and exterior wall.
In Week 5 we will build a roof structure and cover it with wood and a green roof. We will aim to complete the roof by the end of Week 5 and also simultaneously build the “Sara” Masonry Heater (see below) which takes about 1-1/2 days total. The roof is a big task and requires different tools and skills and may not be able to keep everyone busy at once so we offer the Heater/Stove as another project at the same time. The completion of the roof is always the goal but also depends on the flow of other external circumstances including student abilities and space. All the relevant information will be covered in lectures as always.
Those who complete this 35-day Workshop will receive the Advanced Cobber Certification of Completion for Foundation and Cob Walls (which includes Door, Windows, Shelves, Art, Electrical & Plumbing), Floor, Plaster & Roof.

WEEK 5: “SARA” MASONRY HEATER & STOVE
In Week 5 the workshop will take a turn and learn all about the highly-efficient, low-cost earthen adobe block stove & heater developed at the University of Argentina for low-income rural households that goes by the name “Sara”. For more details on the “Estufa Sara” check out this link. Like the rocket stove it uses minimal fuel in the form of branches and small wood pieces and is a double-combustion stove with horizontal and vertical channels built into the upper box, allowing for maximal use of fuel energy for heating the thermal mass of the stove and anything else it passes through, ie a bench, floor, or wall. The “Sara” stove is used for heating as well as cooking on and can also include an oven on the side (not included in this workshop).
The workshop will continue with the same schedule as in the prior 4 weeks, with lecture three times a week, slides and/or video on Wednesday night and hands-on construction the rest of the time.

WORKSHOP SCHEDULE
The 35-day Intermediate Cob Building plus Masonry Heater Workshop begins on Sunday evening, August 18th with Dinner and ends on the last Sunday, September 22 (5 weeks later), with Lunch.
Mondays through Fridays we will build and Saturdays/Sundays we will have time off. The last Saturday morning will be used to wrap things up and clean up, and the rest of the day will be used for a final group activity before our celebration dinner, graduation ceremony and fire circle. The Workshop will end with the Closing Circle and Lunch on Sunday.
The daily schedule will be:
6:30-7:30 Yoga & Meditation/Dance
7:30-8:30 Breakfast
8:45-1:00 Class
1:00-2:30 Lunch
2:30-5:30 Class
5:30-7:00 Rest/Yoga/Dance
7:00-8:00 Dinner
8:00-9:00 Slides/Videos/Discussion (once a week)
Other nights will have optional activities like Salsa Dancing, Fire Circles, Music, and skinny-dipping in the Yuba by the Full Moon!
DETAILED COURSE CONTENTS
Students will learn every phase of building a cob building from foundation through the roof in lectures/theory. In addition to the lectures, slideshows and videos will be shown to support and enhance their understanding of cob materials, cob building, design, geography , budgeting, business options and legal issues.
Our hands-on practice will include:
building foundation analyzing soils and materials
making test bricks
deciding on correct mixture
deciding on best location
making cob solo and with partner
building with cob
preparing and inserting the door
preparing and inserting fixed and opening windows
preparing and inserting shelves
inserting bottle windows and other objects
inserting electrical wiring and plumbing in walls
sculpting
preparing and applying earthen plaster (1 coat)
pouring an earthen floor (2 layers)
preparing walls for roof connection
building a roof structure
building a green roof covering
building an earthen masonry heater/stove
In addition to Cob Building practices, the Course material also includes:
legal issues about cob
cost analysis
creating a cob business (building/teaching)
assisting, interning and teaching with CruzinCobGlobal
making small-scale designs of cob structures, time permitting

REQUIREMENTS AND IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING PHYSICAL WORK
CruzinCobGlobal’s Cob Building workshops are an intense and demanding building experience. The goal of our month-long Complete Cob Workshop is to complete a whole structure including the roof covering by the last Friday of the workshop. This is quite an accomplishment and when completed, give students alot of pride and confidence in building on their own after the workshop.
The Monday through Friday schedule is rigorous and meant to train students in experiencing what it takes to build a cob building in a reasonable amount of time. We also have a great time bonding, playing music, doing Yoga, sitting around the fire and relaxing after class time. Students can use weekends to rest, recuperate and enjoy getting to know the location. We accept all levels and abilities and students are never required to go beyond what they feel comfortable with. There are always other activities besides mixing and building which are needed to build the house (getting materials, trimming, screening material, cutting straw, sculpting, plaster, etc) and students learn alot by watching.
Students will need to come prepared for physical labor from Day 1.
This includes:
Work clothes appropriate for the country and climate we are in (long pants for Muslim countries)
Slip-on flip-flops
Work Boots or Closed Shoes for Foundation and Roof, if applicable
Lightweight rubber gloves (not gardening gloves)
Good moisturizer (clay is drying and dehydrating!)
Hat
Water Bottle
Notebook/Pen/Camera
A 2 ft level and sharp-toothed wood saw (optional but recommended)
Students are required to read “The Hand-Sculpted House” before the workshop begins and any other book they find, as well as watching videos on YouTube, especially the ones posted on CruzinCobGlobal’s website under Gallery to get an idea of what is expected. Please bring your book(s).
Students must tend to their own personal needs, drink alot of water, rest when needed and exert themselves at a steady pace. Students who cannot do the strenuous physical work should let us know before the workshop begins so we can adjust appropriately. It is totally OK to come for the lecture/theory part, and then help the building part in less physically demanding ways, ie cutting straw, sifting for plaster, hammering nails into frames or shelves, sculpting, plastering, cutting bottles. There is alot to do besides making and building with cob!!!!
Finally, please bring a watch or use your phone to be prompt and ready for each part of the Course including meals. Feel free to share your dietary needs with CCG or the Host and bring your essential snacks and foods, pillow and whatever you NEED to be comfortable and happy. Feel free to also bring slides, videos, movies and books to share, as well as a sample of your soil to test.

MEALS & ACCOMMODATIONS
This workshop accommodations will be camping in your own tents or indoors in the barn for free along with some other paid indoor options. There is a very sweet tiny home on wheels that is all decked out for one person or a couple that will be available. There may be a few other fun options in buses that are outfitted for living in. People can also choose to stay in town or rent a room nearby but would need to provide their own transportation to the site each day. There will be outdoor and indoor showers and toilets and an indoor kitchen. All the indoor facilities will be in the big red barn as will be the communal area for slideshows and lectures. Days can be very hot (90ºF) and nights can be chilly in the mountains. Please bring warm clothes for nighttime and make sure you have a warm sleeping bag Bring bathing suit, towels, work clothes, weekend clothes, etc.

Brazilian Food Goddesses!!!!

Three meals/day will be served Monday through Friday. Meals will be vegetarian, organic and local and delicious as always. If you are a carnivore please bring jerky, canned fish and snacks but we will also make the effort to have some meat/fish options 1-2 times a week, depending on student needs. Also bring your extra sweets and snacks that you like because we will be 12 miles from the nearest store.
Weekends are free to leave and go to the river, hot springs or hiking or camping elsewhere. If you stay at the site, please be prepared to provide your own meals and cook in the communal kitchen.

TRAVEL LOGISTICS
The largest nearest city to fly into is San Francisco or Oakland. Sacramento and Reno airports are smaller but closer. From there you can rent a car with other students and drive the 2.5-hour drive to Nevada City and keep the car for the month so you are independent to go where you want on weekends and even run into town during the weekday nights. There are also Greyhound buses from SF and Oakland or Craigslist Rideshare and BlaBlaCar are great options that are cheap and efficient for getting a ride with people already driving in that direction. Nicole and Jared are happy to get people from town when they arrive. Check out Kiwi.com and Rome2Rio.com for the best info on getting from your origin to destination points anywhere in the world. We will also offer up a rideshare list of givers and takers as the time draws near.
We will be sending you all the workshop details by email a month before the workshop and help you with all the transport info so you will have a smooth time getting here! No worries!

COST & PAYMENT
The 5-week workshop includes tuition, 3 meals/day and indoor/outdoor camping facilities as well as transport from and to Nevada City when you arrive and leave. Workshop will happen Monday through Friday and weekends are free to explore and travel or stay at the site. Weekdays food will be prepared by experienced cooks and meals will be mostly vegetarian with a few meat options per week depending on student needs. On weekends students will prepare their own meals and/or go out to eat if they remain in town.
5-week Advanced Cob Building+Masonry Heater/Stove Wkshp, Camping, Food: (8/18-9/22)
$2500, by May 18, 2019
$2600, after May 18, 2019
To register and make your payment, please contact claudine@cruzincobglobal.org.
Payment can be made by Venmo, Paypal, Zelle, free Bank Transfer to US or European Bank account or Transferwise. Please contact Claudine to assist you with cheapest transaction option. You can also contact her at +1831212-7225 by phone, SMS or Whatsapp.

WORK TRADE
There are 4 work trade positions open for the full 5-week workshop each for 1.25 hours per day in either the kitchen or onsite. Each position gives a $250 discount off of the full workshop payment, which depends on when you decide to complete the payment. To hold your spot there is a 50% deposit due immediately and then you have the choice of paying by May 18 ($2500), or after May 18, 2019 ($2600). No experience is needed and they will not interfere with your class hours.
The kitchen work trade positions will most likely be in charge of preparing and putting out breakfast from 6:30-7:30am and cleaning up from 8:15-8:30am. The onsite work trade positions will also be early morning shifts prepping the work site from 7:00-8:00am before breakfast and then staying from 5:30-5:45pm for extra clean-up or prep work at the end of the day.
Please inquire for applications asap as these are the first spots to go.

INSTRUCTOR
Claudine Désirée, founder and director of CCG, learned how to cob with Michael Smith in 2003 in northern CA and has been building and teaching ever since completing her first project, her legal 200 ft2 studio, in her backyard. In 2014, she was one of the first people to legalize a cob building on the west coast of the US, where the building code laws are the most stringent due to high earthquake risk.
In 2008, she created SunflowerCobBuilding which became CruzinCob and then, in April 2015, evolved into CruzinCobGlobal, the international cob workshop business she runs from wherever she happens to be on the Planet. To date she has taught close to 100 workshops, 25 of which have been part of CCG’s exciting international circuit since the Spring of 2015 in the following countries: Spain, the Canaries (Spain), Senegal, Cabo Verde, France, Morocco, Portugal, the Azores (Portugal), Colombia, Brazil, Chile and the US.

Fast Cob! A revolution in Natural Building…
2019-08-24 15:30 - 2019-08-31 11:00 | Lasqueti Island, 1 Beautiful Bicycle Lane, Lasqueti Island, BC, V0R 2J0, Canada
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 we call Fast Cob!
Compare that to his first building, built with the traditional West Coast Cob technique: a 64 sq.ft. utility shed that needed 28 people and 2 building seasons to complete.
Covering all the Basics: At a relaxed pace, we’ll learn and practice mixing and building with Fast Cob! As the week progresses, you’ll gain the skills and inspiration to build your own structures. This year, I’m planning to show you how fast this technique is by starting and completing a 100+ sq.ft. wood shed – with a loft – in just 6 days! Last year, a workshop of 4 people built a 12′ high by 8′ wide wall…and that was only half of what we accomplished.
In between hands-on Fast Cob! sessions, we’ll look at foundations, electrical, plumbing, upper floors, roofs, and general design. You get everything you need to go off and start building on your own because we design every workshop around you and your needs!

Introduction to Cob Workshop
2019-08-26 - 2019-08-29 | Unnamed Venue, Keystone Heights, FL, United States
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 cob building, which was built on-site from previous workshop students.
This workshop is a great experience to learn how to build with cob and to get a broad learning overview of natural building techniques. You will get a solid foundation in cob building fundamentals. We will be constructing an outdoor cob sitting area and studying Natural Building together each day. After this workshop, you will have the basic know-how and confidence to design and build your own simple cob constructions or cob building.
Hands-On Work Topics:
– How to make cob (with the traditional tarp method)
– Selecting and testing soils for cob (learn several ways to test your soil composition)
– Building cob walls (learn my four steps to efficient cob wall building)
– Creating window and door frames (how to build and attach frames to cob walls)
– Basic Roofing Construction
– Rammed Earth Demonstration (building rammed earth forms and compaction process)
– Earthen Plaster Demonstration (learn to mix and apply earth plaster)
Classroom and Discussion Topics:
– Site selection and design (includes Passive Solar design principles)
– Materials and tools (covers traditional and modern cob building toolset and materials)
– Rubble trench foundations (Plus general foundation building)
– Drainage principles (Important: water can be cob’s worst enemy)
– Basic Electrical and Plumbing integration for cob homes
– Installing windows and doors
– Roofing and Bond Beams
– Natural plasters and finishes (Vapor Permeable / “Breathable” finishes)
– Overview of Natural Building materials
This workshop is a unique experience for people to learn about building cob homes and to get an overview of Natural Building. Not only are there plenty of hands-on lessons to learn from, but we will also have ample discussion and informal classroom time. Most cob workshops don’t cover this many topics. But here, you will learn all the core lessons needed to start building from this one workshop!
Plus – there will be many hours of discussions about building cob homes and natural building throughout the workshop. Its a great way to get your questions answered and brainstorm your building ideas!
The workshop will be held at a private property in Keystone Heights, Florida.
Each day will begin at 9:00 AM, and the days will include hands-on building, classroom sessions, discussions, and learning activities related to cob and natural building topics. We will break for lunch between 12:00 to 1:30 PM, and we will complete each day at around 4:00 PM. They will be full-packed days! Worth your every penny!
The workshop will be taught by Alex Sumerall, an east coast Natural Builder who has a focus on creating earthen structures that are healthy, aesthetically pleasing, and functional for modern life. He is the owner of This Cob House, LLC, which is dedicated to teaching people about cob and natural building techniques. Alex has a background in business and advertising, and has been practicing Natural Building since 2011. He graduated from the Aprovecho School of Natural Building in 2013 in Cottage Grove, Oregon, and continues to teach, present, consult, and construct.
Earn A Certificate of Cob Building!

Upon completion of this workshop, you will be awarded with a certificate of cob building. This certificate is earned by all of our 5-day workshop students. It will be printed and signed by Alex for you to take home with you at the end of the week.
Free Bonus!
Everyone who signs up for the workshop will receive a printed copy of Alex’s book, “Build a Cob House: A Step-By-Step Guide”, and the downloadable PDF version, FREE! We only make printed copies for workshop students, so this is your chance to get one. We will be using the book as a lesson guide throughout the workshop too so you can follow along with your book in hand.
Listen to the great things that our workshop participants are saying!
“The cob workshop was a life-changing experience. I learned a lot about natural building, not only from Alex’s instruction, experience and demonstrations, but from interacting with people from different backgrounds who were a great source of collective knowledge. The hands-on experience was priceless!” Tony Romo, Texas
“The Cob Building Workshop was a great investment of my time! It was well organized, extremely inspiring, and FUN! Alex was able to explain construction basics to neophytes like me, yet he could also answer the complex questions asked by the more experienced workshop attendees. I can’t wait until the next workshop!”
Marybeth Babos, Tennessee
Lodging
There are two options for lodging: free camping on site, or making reservations at one of the local hotels or AirBnB. Hotels are available in the neighboring towns of Stark and Waldo, per Google maps, and possibly in Keystone Heights.
Camping is FREE and is available throughout the property. There are plenty of great locations to set up a tent here. Multiple camp areas are available with oak trees shading the majority of the property. Trees can be used appropriately for hammocks & camp gear. Campers will have access to a clean bathroom and private outdoor shower.
A modernized, yet simple, building contains a flushable toilet with a private outdoor shower that’s tucked away. It is spacious with room to keep things up and dry.
Our location has electricity & water. Electric outlets are minimal, with the ability to charge phones & power tools, in a single location. The water is well water and is drinkable, yet you may wish to bring your own.
Food
Meals will not be included in this workshop so participants will need to provide their own food. There are several local restaurants and grocery stores nearby the workshop site.
Each is responsible for their own meal preparation, unless decisions are made to share or combine. An hour for lunch is provided, allowing adequate time for a quick nap, a trip into town, fast food, cooking over the fire, or utilizing the grill. There is no official kitchen on site, but there is a small operational microwave, and a few pieces of kitchen camp gear available for use. Coolers are welcome and encouraged.
Local Places to Eat: McHenry’s (food & pub), Keystone Inn (country buffet, known for chicken) Hardee’s, McDonald’s, Subway, Johnny’s BBQ
Recreation & Surroundings
Bring a camp chair for some quality R&R. Build a community camp fire, while reflecting on the day. Enjoy the grassy area to throw a ball, walking trails through the woods, blackberry bushes, slightly traveled road that’s great for a leisurely walk, and the open field in the distance to spot deer, crane, & rabbits in the early mornings.
Family & Groups
Ask about discounts. We encourage group & family activities because it enhances learning among your support group. Email me at alex@thiscobhouse.com for custom group/family invoice.
Children/young people of any age are welcome to join in and learn. Please be aware that some areas are under construction, as is the purpose of this workshop. Previous workshop parents have brought playpens, pop up tents, outside toys, and so forth. Children are welcome to explore through “hands-on” learning. It’s okay if they play in the dirt.
Prices
Price: $399

Additional Discounts: 10% for family and friends participating together.
Teens accompanying a parent/guardian are half price. Children under 13 accompanying a parent/guardian are free.

Click here to register: https://thiscobhouse.samcart.com/products/introduction-to-cob-workshop-florida-august-2019/
If you have any other questions about the workshop, please feel free to email me at alex@thiscobhouse.com
If you have a large party of people registering, they can all register separately, or contact me for a custom invoice.

Natural Building Part 2: Adobe, Cob, Wattle and Daub, Arches & Clay Plasters
2019-09-06 - 2019-09-12 | Abuela Gardens, 4649 Bear Canyon Rd., Willits, CA, 95490, United States
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
• Make several types of wattle and daub, a sculptural, thin earthen wall made of sticks, clay and straw
• Learn the steps to turn a raw earthen or straw bale wall into a finished, durable wall by applying plasters made of clay and lime.
• Understand how to connect multiple natural wall systems together in a strong, efficient hybrid home
The extended practicum will include more wall building and much more experience with earthen plasters.
Each workshop is organized into two parts, the weekend Intensive (Friday through Sunday) will include the bulk of theoretical and practical training, followed by a 4-day Practicum (Monday through Thursday) focused on hands-on building experience. Participants are encouraged to attend both the workshop and practicum for the full experience, which is incentivized by a reduced workshop tuition. Workshops fees include an all-organic lunch and dinner as well as camping/housing options and an early morning yoga class.
For friends interested in going deep we are inviting 6 people to do an immersion through the Natural Building series. This immersion allows participants to attend workshops for free and have all meals provided in exchange for weekly work hours, primarily toward building, but also other supportive tasks for workshop prep and facility maintenance. ​
Lead instructor Michael G. Smith is one of the world’s authorities on building with earth and straw with over 25 years of teaching experience. In 1993, Michael co-founded the Cob Cottage Company, which reintroduced cob building to the United States. He is the author or co-author of many articles and books, including “The Art of Natural Building” and “The Hand-Sculpted House.” Michael has designed and/or built over 60 natural structures, specializing in space- and energy-efficient hybrid designs. Learn more at http://strawclaywood.com

Cob Oven Workshop
2019-09-20 08:00 - 2019-09-22 15:00 | Heart Song Sanctuary, 658 Co. Rt. 6, High Falls, NY, 12440, United States
Join instructor Michael McDonough in the construction of a wood fired cob oven. We’ll also take time to explore clay and lime based plasters and floors.
What to expect:
Our days will be spent engaged in hands-on building and learning with natural materials. Expect a rich
weekend of natural and community building with the group. We’ll work, learn, eat,and relax with each other in
a positive, hard-working, fun atmosphere. Conversation on natural building will provide constant
background chatter throughout the weekend.
The Site:
Our site is Heart Song Sanctuary, a beautiful 45 acre property with two completely finished natural
buildings. The site featuring many acres of woods, a cleared meadow, swimming creek and pond.
Accommodations for camping include an outdoor shower, compost toilet outhouse, and fire pit/gathering
area.
Meals/Food preferences:
We will serve three meals daily, cooked on site by our staff. The food will be mostly vegetarian with a
vegan option. Many of the ingredients will be sourced from local farms. Please indicate any food allergies
upon registration.
Instructor:
Michael McDonough is a Troy, NY based building contractor, designer, and educator. His work can be
found at the NC Museum of Life and Science, Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, Oxmoor Farm, and a
number of happy homesteads around the east coast.
What to bring:
* Camping equipment including tent, sleeping bag, flashlight.
* Work clothes and shoes. Short rubber boots or old sneakers for cob, gloves
* Sunscreen, bug spray, hat, water bottle, rain gear
* Tool kit including tool belt, knife, tape measure, pencil, hammer.
* Notebook, building plans or sketches to discuss.
To Register:
Tuition includes a week of camping, workshop experience, meals.
Group rates, discounts for previous students, or taking multiple courses are possible.
Mail your tuition check to the address below and we will confirm your registration via email.
Rising Earth Natural Building
40 Springwood Manor

soil magic week~Sept. 23-27, 2019
2019-09-23 07:00 - 2019-09-27 13:00 | Wheaton Labs, near missoula , missoula, MT, 59806, United States
gardening, hugelkultur, earthworks, and natural building
Activities could include (these are just the start of the ideas, see the gardening PEP badge thread, the natural building PEP badge thread, and the earthworks PEP badge thread for more ideas):

build a hugelkultur
experience chop and drop gardening
try your hand at Ruth Stout style composting
make cob to fill in between logs in a wofati
create a small dry stack retaining wall
take three scoops with an excavator

5 days $300
click here to return to the OP where there are links to register based on the number of days/events you wish to attend.

Introduction to Cob Workshop
2019-10-07 - 2019-10-11 | Unnamed Venue, Keystone Heights, FL, United States
Location: Keystone Heights, Florida

Register here: https://www.thiscobhouse.com/introduction-cob-workshop-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 cob building, which was built on-site from previous workshop students.

This workshop is a great experience to learn how to build with cob and to get a broad learning overview of natural building techniques. You will get a solid foundation in cob building fundamentals. We will be constructing an outdoor cob sitting area and studying Natural Building together each day. After this workshop, you will have the basic know-how and confidence to design and build your own simple cob constructions or cob building.

Hands-On Work Topics:

– How to make cob (with the traditional tarp method)

– Selecting and testing soils for cob (learn several ways to test your soil composition)

– Building cob walls (learn my four steps to efficient cob wall building)

– Creating window and door frames (how to build and attach frames to cob walls)

– Basic Roofing Construction

– Rammed Earth Demonstration (building rammed earth forms and compaction process)

– Earthen Plaster Demonstration (learn to mix and apply earth plaster)

Classroom and Discussion Topics:

– Site selection and design (includes Passive Solar design principles)

– Materials and tools (covers traditional and modern cob building toolset and materials)

– Rubble trench foundations (Plus general foundation building)

– Drainage principles (Important: water can be cob’s worst enemy)

– Basic Electrical and Plumbing integration for cob homes

– Installing windows and doors

– Roofing and Bond Beams

– Natural plasters and finishes (Vapor Permeable / “Breathable” finishes)

– Overview of Natural Building materials

This workshop is a unique experience for people to learn about building cob homes and to get an overview of Natural Building. Not only are there plenty of hands-on lessons to learn from, but we will also have ample discussion and informal classroom time. Most cob workshops don’t cover this many topics. But here, you will learn all the core lessons needed to start building from this one workshop!

Plus – there will be many hours of discussions about building cob homes and natural building throughout the workshop. Its a great way to get your questions answered and brainstorm your building ideas!

The workshop will be held at a private property in Keystone Heights, Florida.

Each day will begin at 8:00 AM, and the days will include hands-on building, classroom sessions, discussions, and learning activities related to cob and natural building topics. We will break for lunch between 12:00 to 1:30 PM, and we will complete each day at around 4:00 PM. They will be full-packed days! Worth your every penny!

The workshop will be taught by Alex Sumerall, an east coast Natural Builder who has a focus on creating earthen structures that are healthy, aesthetically pleasing, and functional for modern life. He is the owner of This Cob House, LLC, which is dedicated to teaching people about cob and natural building techniques. Alex has a background in business and advertising, and has been practicing Natural Building since 2011. He graduated from the Aprovecho School of Natural Building in 2013 in Cottage Grove, Oregon, and continues to teach, present, consult, and construct.

Earn A Certificate of Cob Building!

Upon completion of this workshop, you will be awarded with a certificate of cob building. This certificate is earned by all of our 5-day workshop students. It will be printed and signed by Alex for you to take home with you at the end of the week.

Free Bonus!

Everyone who signs up for the workshop will receive a printed copy of Alex’s book, “Build a Cob House: A Step-By-Step Guide”, and the downloadable PDF version, FREE! We only make printed copies for workshop students, so this is your chance to get one. We will be using the book as a lesson guide throughout the workshop too so you can follow along with your book in hand.

Listen to the great things that our workshop participants are saying!

“The cob workshop was a life-changing experience. I learned a lot about natural building, not only from Alex’s instruction, experience and demonstrations, but from interacting with people from different backgrounds who were a great source of collective knowledge. The hands-on experience was priceless!” Tony Romo, Texas

“The Cob Building Workshop was a great investment of my time! It was well organized, extremely inspiring, and FUN! Alex was able to explain construction basics to neophytes like me, yet he could also answer the complex questions asked by the more experienced workshop attendees. I can’t wait until the next workshop!”

Marybeth Babos, Tennessee

Lodging

There are two options for lodging: free camping on site, or making reservations at one of the local hotels or AirBnB. Hotels are available in the neighboring towns of Stark and Waldo, per Google maps, and possibly in Keystone Heights.

Camping is FREE and is available throughout the property. There are plenty of great locations to set up a tent here. Multiple camp areas are available with oak trees shading the majority of the property. Trees can be used appropriately for hammocks & camp gear. Campers will have access to a clean bathroom and private outdoor shower.

A modernized, yet simple, building contains a flushable toilet with a private outdoor shower that’s tucked away. It is spacious with room to keep things up and dry.

Our location has electricity & water. Electric outlets are minimal, with the ability to charge phones & power tools, in a single location. The water is well water and is drinkable, yet you may wish to bring your own.

Food

Meals will not be included in this workshop so participants will need to provide their own food. There are several local restaurants and grocery stores nearby the workshop site.

Each is responsible for their own meal preparation, unless decisions are made to share or combine. An hour for lunch is provided, allowing adequate time for a quick nap, a trip into town, fast food, cooking over the fire, or utilizing the grill. There is no official kitchen on site, but there is a small operational microwave, and a few pieces of kitchen camp gear available for use. Coolers are welcome and encouraged.

Local Places to Eat: McHenry’s (food & pub), Keystone Inn (country buffet, known for chicken) Hardee’s, McDonald’s, Subway, Johnny’s BBQ

Recreation & Surroundings

Bring a camp chair for some quality R&R. Build a community camp fire, while reflecting on the day. Enjoy the grassy area to throw a ball, walking trails through the woods, blackberry bushes, slightly traveled road that’s great for a leisurely walk, and the open field in the distance to spot deer, crane, & rabbits in the early mornings.

Family & Groups

Ask about discounts. We encourage group & family activities because it enhances learning among your support group. Email me at alex@thiscobhouse.com for custom group/family invoice.

Children/young people of any age are welcome to join in and learn. Please be aware that some areas are under construction, as is the purpose of this workshop. Previous workshop parents have brought playpens, pop up tents, outside toys, and so forth. Children are welcome to explore through “hands-on” learning. It’s okay if they play in the dirt.

Prices

Price: $499

Additional Discounts: 10% for family and friends participating together.

Teens accompanying a parent/guardian are half price. Children under 13 accompanying a parent/guardian are free.

Sign up here: https://www.thiscobhouse.com/introduction-cob-workshop-keystone-heights-florida/

If you have any other questions about the workshop, please feel free to email me at alex@thiscobhouse.com

If you have a large party of people registering, they can all register separately, or contact me for a custom invoice.

Batch Rocket Thermal Mass Heaters
2019-10-11 - 2019-10-17 | Abuela Gardens, 4649 Bear Canyon Rd., Willits, CA, 95490, United States
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 and easily. Build a Batch Box RMH and fire it!
​Check out these videos for more info!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7kqu1XvsXY&t=5s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aX5DTNNZ9sg&t=15s
Each workshop is organized into two parts, the weekend Intensive (Friday through Sunday) will include the bulk of theoretical and practical training, followed by a 4-day Practicum (Monday through Thursday) focused on hands-on building experience. Participants are encouraged to attend both the workshop and practicum for the full experience, which is incentivized by a reduced workshop tuition. Workshops fees include an all-organic lunch and dinner as well as camping/housing options and an early morning yoga class.
For friends interested in going deep we are inviting 6 people to do an immersion through the Natural Building series. This immersion allows participants to attend workshops for free and have all meals provided in exchange for weekly work hours, primarily toward building, but also other supportive tasks for workshop prep and facility maintenance. ​
Lead instructors is Kirk Robert of Sundog School of Natural Building.
