Earthen Oven Pizza PartyGMonday, September 17th, 2012 Though we still haven't finished our oven (it needs an insulative outer layer and a protective coat of lime plaster), that hasn't stopped us from using it. Tonight, we invited some friends over for a pizza party! I made the dough and assembled so...
Building an Earthen Oven: Part TwoGSaturday, September 1st, 2012 With the foundation complete, we set about building the base of our oven. We started by using glass bottles to create a "bowl" to hold the hearth floor. This insulative layer is meant to create an air gap under the oven, hopefully preventing the ...
Building an Earthen Oven: Part OneGSaturday, September 1st, 2012 This summer, using Kiko Denzer and Hannah Field's book, Build Your Own Earth Oven, Tara and I constructed our first cob structure: a pizza oven. We began the project by digging for clay in the woods behind my mother's house. This task was surpris...
Switching to Strawbale, Part TwoGWednesday, August 22nd, 2012 When we arrived at Hap and Lin's cob cottage in Fairfield, Iowa, we were greeted by a barefoot woman happily pottering around her outdoor kitchen. After shaking our hands in warm greeting, Lin told us she was putting the finishing touches on suppe...
Switching to Strawbale: Part OneGWednesday, August 22nd, 2012 A few years ago, when we learned about cob houses (see the comments section), we were enamored by the idea of building one. Reading The Hand-Sculpted House was truly a revelation—it's no wonder the book is practically scripture in the natural bui...
Mud Girls Natural Building Cob WorkshopGSaturday, May 12th, 2012 For the last five days we've been camping in the woods on a piece of land near the coast of Salt Spring Island, attending a workshop put on by the Mud Girls Natural Building Collective. The week ran a mere $185 dollars per person, and included thr...
Arriving on Salt Spring IslandGMonday, May 7th, 2012 After a series of unexpectedly expensive ferries, we've made it to Salt Spring Island. Our tent is now pitched in a sun-dappled, fern-filled woods, and we're getting to know our fellow workshop participants. The worksite is a thousand times more ...
