Tag Archive: foundations

Instructor: Eli Adadow of Ancient Earth

Tuition: $500

website: www.WildernessCollege.com

Location: The beautiful Alderleaf campus at 18715 299th Ave SE, Monroe, WA 98272

What you will learn: Design, foundations, walls, framing, roof systems, thermal performance, strength and integrity, use of local materials, and tricks for building fast, sturdy structures—the skills you will need to create your own earth bag structures

Earth bag structure uses: Homes, garden, tool and bike sheds, wine and root storage, play houses, emergency shelters, and more

Sustainability & self-reliance: These inexpensive, easy-to-build, beautiful buildings have offered self-empowerment and real solutions to sustainability and homelessness around the world.

Accommodations: Free tent or car camping available on site with access to running water, fire pit and bathroom. Limited room rentals may be available. Bare rooms (no furniture) rent for $15 per person per night.Includes bathroom and kitchen access. Local hotel information is available on our website.

Meals: Daily organic lunches (vegetarian options) are provided. Breakfast and dinner are on your own.

Cost & Discounts: $500 per person. 15% discount for extra adult family members Teens (13-17) may attend for $300 when accompanied by an adult.

More information:

Pre-registration required—register online or by phone. 360.793.8709

Visit our website for more information about this class and other Alderleaf programs for both wilderness skills and sustainable living. Space is limited. www.WildernessCollege.com

Start Date: as soon as you want…

Silk Hope, NC

Instructor Danielle Acres

danielleacres@gmail.com

http://earthenacres.wordpress.com/

I am looking for an intern who will work alongside me on the construction of a small 2 story cob cottage. The foundation is complete and as the work on the walls begins there is the opportunity for in depth learning about cob building as we build up the walls, incorporate windows, seating, shelving, cantilevered stairs, second story flooring, a small balcony, and then build a living roof. Meals and campsite will be provided in exchange for 25 hours of work each week.

Also, if there is an interest in learning about human scale organic vegetable production, perennial gardening systems, or wild edible and mushroom foraging, there is plenty of that going on here that you can take part in. There are also plans in the works for other building projects, as we will be building an outdoor kitchen and an outhouse. So if you have a passion for natural building there are opportunities here for learning/experimentation.

Contact me to learn more and chat about building!

Decorah, IA

Instructor Ian and Andi Miller

Tuition $750 includes camping and meals

Learn how to build a house of cob! Cob is a building material made of clay soil, sand and straw. Join us, Andi and Ian Miller, at our farm, Bergbauernhof, as we build our home and teach you how you can build your own cottage, house or tool shed out of the earth beneath your feet. Techniques learned here can also be applied to restoring an existing house. This will be a hands-on workshop where we actually build a house. Topics covered include siting and foundation; passive-solar design; foundations; windows and doors in cob; balecob; and roofs for cob buildings.

Cost: $750 for full week, $250 weekend of June 19/20. Includes camping and three meals a day. Full week is strongly encouraged if you’re looking to build on your own, as you’ll only get a taste of using cob over the weekend.

We are open to bartering/work trading.

To register contact Ian and Andi Miller: (563) 379-1006 or millerbakery@gmail.com

Oregon City, Oregon

Instructor Bernhard Masterson

http://www.bernhardmasterson.com

Tuition $810

A complete cob workshop that provides the skills necessary to transform the earth into a cottage or studio. We will cover design, passive solar, foundations, soils/materials, cob mixing, straw-bale hybrids, doors and windows, sculptural details, roofing, plastering, flooring and more. Using inexpensive natural and local materials we’ll create a garden studio of great durability and beauty. Afternoon lectures and labs will enrich the hands-on experience. Some on-site camping is available, we’ll work with those from out of town on lodging.

As an added treat, gourmet vegan and raw meals will be served by chef Gabrielle Chavez. For more information and to register contact Gabrielle Chavez at gabriellesgarden[at]gmail.com or 503-957-3694

John Day, OR

Solwest Renewable Energy Fair

Instructor Bernhard Masterson

Tuition $360

Come to sunny eastern Oregon, and learn to do miraculous things with dirt! EORenew will offer three Workshops in John Day, Oregon this July on natural building techniques.  Camping is available on-site for workshop students, and breakfasts and lunches will be provided.  The other workshops will cover natural wall panels and earthen plaster.  Sign up for one, two, or all three workshops! Join us in making new friends, laughing, and turning the new cob bench at the fairgrounds into beautiful, usable art.

Want to expand your understanding of solar and wind energy?  Combine your trip with the highly praised SolWest Renewable Energy Fair following this workshop.

In the Cob Essentials workshop July 19-22, students will build a beautiful, durable, and thermally massive cob bench using soil, sand, and straw. The class will cover core principles and techniques for cob construction through lecture and hands-on building. Issues and techniques to be covered include: mixing, application, materials, test bricks, and how to connect cob to other parts of a structure. Lectures and labs will cover foundation, drainage, siting, passive solar, roofs, and tools. The workshop will prepare participants to use earthen materials to build anything from benches and ovens to cottages.

September 6- October 30, 2010

Campo Ramon, Misiones, Argentina

We will be hosting an 8-week in-depth internship program to individuals interested in getting hands-on experience in organic gardening, natural food production, earthen and natural building, seed saving, and community living. This will be an opportunity for personal growth through shared learning in which interns will cooperate in the different aspects of a dynamic sustainable community. The internship will be a chance to take responsibility for providing for ones basic needs in a positive working environment of like-minding people.

Topics of Focus:

Organic Gardening:
Composting and Soil Amending, Bed-Making, Planting and Transplanted, Seed Saving, Companion Planting, Natural Pesticides, and more…

Natural Building:
We will be constructing a small Earthen building and exploring various natural building techniques: Bamboo, Earthen building with Adobe Bricks, Cob, Wattle-and-Daub, also Foundation, Design Principles, Wall Construction, Plaster and Natural Painting, Roofing, and creative use of site-found and salvaged materials…

Extended Sustainable Ideas:
Food Product Making, Jarring and Preserving, Alternative Refrigeration, Milk-Product Creating, Fermentation and Cultivating Micro-organisms, Alternative Energies, Reforestation, and there will also be plenty of space to explore projects of personal interest and intrigue. Also, there will be opportunities for practicing Yoga, Meditation, Massage (Thai and Swedish), Medicinal Plant Searches, Nature Hikes, Waterfall and River Swimming…

General Schedule:

Sunday- Thursday: morning and afternoon sessions, with an extended break in the middle of the day for lunch and siesta.
We will also have a 5-day break in the middle of the course. September 30 – October 4.
There will be an optional extended stay after the course for those interested.

Meals:
We have a community kitchen where we all share in the meal preparations and clean-up. We provide 3 healthy vegetarian meals with veggies from our garden as well as local produce, fruits, and products.

Living Arrangements:
Interns should bring their own tents and bedding. We may also have some beds to offer in a shared earthen cottage.

Language: English and Spanish

To Apply:
Please write us a short letter introducing yourself. We would like to know who you are and better prepare the program for your needs. (This will remain confidential.) Write a simple, honest letter about yourself and why you want to participate in the internship program. It does not need to be formal, use your own style. Please include your age, gender, and an overview of your present life (for example, what brought you to want to come, where you are from, where you are coming from at this point in your life, how you hope to integrate the experience/learning from the program in your life, a few of your strengths and weaknesses in living in community/working with others). If you have any emotional or health difficulties, please let us know how these are effecting your life now. Please wait for acceptance before making travel arrangements.Please send your letter and any questions you may have to mama.roja@yahoo.com.

Cost of Internship: US$955 (or the equivalent in Argentine pesos)
Your contributions go toward expanding the project and work with our local community on important topics such as seed saving, no chemical usage, and natural building alternatives.

Arrangements can be made for participants from less developed countries.

For more information or questions, contact us at http://mama.roja@yahoo.com

Berkeley, CA

Instructor Sasha Rabin & Massey Burke

http://verticalclay.com

Tuition $150

This class is a conceptual and hands on introduction to earthbag construction, also known as superadobe or free-form rammed earth. This technique was originally popularized by Nadir Khalili, at the Hesperia Institute in southern California; and more recently by Kaki Hunter and Doni Kiffmeyer, the authors of the book Earthbag Building. The hands-on portion of this class will focus on the basics of filling and stacking bags and tubes, and different types of appropriate fill materials. We will construct a foundation for a garden wall and sleeping pod. The discussion portion will focus on earthbag construction in its capacity for high-quality emergency housing, as well as the capacity for earthbag to create buildings requiring minimal wood.

Oregon City, Oregon

Instructor Bernhard Masterson   –  www.bernhardmasterson.com

Tuition $860, discounts available

This nine- day workshop will cover what you need to know in order to create a snug and solid cob and straw bale building. Hands on instruction will cover materials, mixing, foundations, wall construction, doors, windows and roof.  Discussions and lectures will address: design, utilities, roofing, floors, and plasters.  Class members will have the opportunity to participate in all aspects of a cob build, from completing a foundation to framing a roof, as we practice skills on the construction of a 200 sq foot studio dug into a gentle slope in a 1 acre permaculture garden. Bernhard Masterson, designer and master builder, is a patient and available teacher whose knowledge and experience in the art of natural building is deep and wide.
Four additional weekend workshops on the site with Bernhard later this fall will provide optional opportunities to learn how to build a living roof, cob plaster, earthen floor, and a rocket stove.

The 9-day June workshop includes Three Gourmet Live Food Abundant Meals Daily, Community-Created fun, and on-site camping if needed.

Cost: $860  student, couple, and early bird discounts available
Weekends Only: (June 19-20 and 26-27) $200 per
To Register, contact Gabrielle Chavez, gabriellesgarden@gmail.com

Workshop details:  bernhard_masterson@hotmail.com

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Trained as a sculptor and educator, Bernhard Masterson has taught art and natural building for the last eight years. Skilled in hybrid cob and straw bale construction, living roofs, Rocket stoves, earth ovens, Rumford fireplaces, composting toilets, and water management, he leads a variety of workshops, projects, and artist residencies. Bernhard is a positive and insightful teacher who derives true satisfaction from empowering others to pursue their visions. Bernhard’s stunning cob cottage was featured in Oregon Home Magazine’s 2007 Green Living edition.