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Straw Bale Building Entries

Preparing the Workshop for a Plastering Crew, Part Three

Thursday, May 26th, 2016

The workshop is nearly ready for plastering! One of our last big projects is installing trim around the building's massive 8 foot tall, 8-foot wide alderwood doors. This weekend, we discovered that they didn't come with enough trim to complete the ...

Preparing the Workshop for a Plastering Crew, Part Two

Thursday, May 26th, 2016

While building our cottage we learned the value of mechanical ventilation. As it turns out, the thing is practically airtight. If we leave it entirely closed up for more than a few days, the air inside gets stale and musty. Thankfully, it's small e...

Indoor Eave Trimming

Saturday, April 30th, 2016

When building our little cottage, we didn't stack straw bales all the way to the roof. Instead, we left an open, angled channel running along the eaves. The base of this channel is a "bale stop" that compresses the straw for increased wall strength...

Winter Water Setbacks

Sunday, February 14th, 2016

When I first started writing this post a few days ago, I was going to talk about how wonderfully forgiving and resilient our house is. How even when it gets really cold, our cottage is cozy, snug, and easy to heat. How our straw bale walls and R40 ...

This is Martin

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2015

During our strawbale workshop, we were fortunate enough to meet Martin, a sweet man from New York City who came to participate. Over the course of the week, we were delighted by Martin's humor, down-to-earth kindness, and musical enthusiasm. What ...

Live Edge Siding for the Workshop

Sunday, August 9th, 2015

Ever since I saw Ben Law's cottage, way back in 2011, I've been enamored with the idea of putting live edge siding (also called adirondack or waney edge siding) one one of our buildings. At long last, we have a building where it would make sense to...

Plastering the Grindbygg Gable Ends

Monday, July 27th, 2015

As I type this, I can practically hear my fingers groaning in protest as they feebly punch the keyboard. I am currently suffering from a condition I've dubbed "plaster claw." It's triggered by a long day of gripping a plaster hawk in one hand, and ...

Strawbale Workshop, Day Seven

Sunday, July 19th, 2015

Quite suddenly, the end of the workshop is upon us. There's a lot of hustle and bustle as everyone kicks into high gear this morning, recognizing that we have just one workday to get as much plastering done as possible. Tyler and I hope with all ou...

Strawbale Workshop, Day Six

Saturday, July 18th, 2015

Time flows differently during an event like this workshop—on the one hand, I can't believe how little time has passed: You mean we've only known these people for six days? Not an entire lifetime? And on the other, it is shocking how quickly time fl...

Strawbale Workshop, Day Five

Friday, July 17th, 2015

I am too exhausted to record the events that have transpired today. I'm a bit overwhelmed by the constant socializing, and lack of sleep is starting to catch up with me. On the whole, though, things are humming along exceptionally well. It's absurd...

Strawbale Workshop, Day Three

Wednesday, July 15th, 2015

The first two days have been a smash success. The strawbale walls are nearly complete! We're building a lot more than a workshop up here, though. It's remarkable to me how tightly knit our group seems to be already. It's been effortless, connecting...

Strawbale Workshop: Day Two

Tuesday, July 14th, 2015

At supper this evening, as I forced myself to sit down and actually eat some of the delicious chili and cornbread Becky and I made (instead of hovering and letting my mind race ahead to the forthcoming dishwashing extravaganza and the next meal to ...

Strawbale Workshop: Day One

Monday, July 13th, 2015

The first day of our workshop kicked off with a brief tour of our (mostly) complete strawbale cottage. It was hilarious to see so many people crammed into the tiny space. While everyone was looking around, I turned on our stereo and asked for reque...

Strawbale Workshop: Day Zero, Evening

Sunday, July 12th, 2015

Our workshop participants are here! (Well, most of them, anyway) This afternoon was a whirlwind of meeting and greeting, vehicle parking, and staking out of camp spots. I've done so much talking and smiling in the last few hours that my jaw hurts! ...

Strawbale Workshop: Day Zero, Morning

Sunday, July 12th, 2015

Our strawbale workshop begins today! Or rather, folks start arriving today. It's 7:40AM on Sunday as I write this. I'm laying in bed with Tara, preparing to head out and tackle the last remaining tasks before Andrew and the students arrive. Our to-...

Strawbales Arrive!

Sunday, July 5th, 2015

The farmer delivered our strawbales today! We hauled them all through the workshop and stacked them in a big tarped pile behind the Grindbygg. As I began sneezing, with snot dripping in mucilagenous streams from my nose, my eyes two itchy, scratchy...

Workshop Framing Continues

Saturday, June 13th, 2015

For the last few weeks Tara and I have been chipping away at the rough framing we need to complete before our strawbale workshop attendees arrive. We're still having a lot of fun with the process—not having the quality of your life depend on the ou...

Grindbygg Workshop Framing

Sunday, May 31st, 2015

After "finishing" our house, we both vacillated between never wanting to build anything again, and feeling excited about the strawbale workshop we are hosting this summer. Mostly, we feared re-living the most stressful project we have ever undertak...

Pascale Visits

Sunday, May 31st, 2015

While we were building our house, we were desperate to find some trustworthy soul to whom we could pose questions like: How did you pour your foundation? Are you happy with it? How did you pick windows? Do you like them? How did you get a clean lin...

Building our First House

Thursday, January 1st, 2015

Throughout the construction of our house, we often jokingly wished that our lives could be a movie montage…. because building is so much easier in montages. Hell, a trio of goofy teenagers can carry building materials to a remote location and const...

Straw Bale Workshop in Vermont: July 2015!

Tuesday, December 2nd, 2014

We are thrilled to announce that we'll be hosting a straw bale building workshop on our homestead this summer from July 13th to 19th! We invite you to join us in learning and building with our friend and teacher, Andrew Morrison of strawbale.com. T...

Life is Horrible

Monday, October 20th, 2014

We are exhausted. Bone-achingly, depressingly exhausted. It feels impossible to have a full time job and build a house in time for winter, as Tyler is trying to do. It feels impossible to have a full time job building a house, as I am trying to do,...

Plaster Faster: Finishing the First Coat of Lime Plaster Indoors

Wednesday, September 17th, 2014

For the past few days, Tyler and I have been applying the first coat of plaster inside the house. Each swipe of the trowel is hurried along by a growing sense of urgency. Winter is fast approaching, and I'm anxious about our upcoming trip to Illino...

It's Getting Better all the Time

Saturday, September 6th, 2014

With an actual house-looking object up there on our ridge, and a beautiful wood-fired hot tub to compliment it, life is getting better. With each bit of progress we make, our daily existence gets a little bit easier, a little more comfortable, and ...

Exterior Scratch Coat Completed! And Karina & Ivica Visit!

Monday, August 18th, 2014

High atop our scaffolding, Tyler and I stood with hawks and trowels in hand, applying a scratch coat of plaster to the last section of the last exterior wall. We had about an hour’s worth of work left when two of our favorite people rolled up the d...

Plaster Master

Wednesday, August 13th, 2014

As it turns out, I really, really like plastering. Sure, it has downsides: it is tiring. Lime turns my hair into a grey rat's nest. It chaps my hands and dries them into rough, old-person appendages, and makes it so that the slightest of bum...

Manic Monday, Part One: Solo Plastering

Monday, August 11th, 2014

This morning, Tyler starts a couple batches of plaster going in the mixer, then heads down to the camper to program for the day, leaving me to tackle plastering by myself. I'm reeling from the sudden change of pace: Tyler took the last couple days ...

This is Kevin & Joy: Part Two

Sunday, August 10th, 2014

Sunday morning started with coffee and plaster in equal measures... Kevin Joy: Sunday, we spent the morning and afternoon plastering. Once we got the plaster mixed, it was time to smash it into the wall. It's not like spreading fr...

For Better or For Worse: Plastering Begins!

Sunday, August 10th, 2014

Our entire home-building process has been full of unknowns and steep learning curves, but the plastering part of it has loomed largest and most daunting of all. While everything about our project feels vitally important, the plaster is most critica...

This is Kevin & Joy: Part One

Saturday, August 9th, 2014

Kevin and I spent the weekend at Tyler and Tara's homestead ostensibly to help plaster (which we did do), but mostly to ask approximately a million questions. Joy Kevin: Visiting Tara and Tyler on their land is something Joy and I ...

Winter is Coming

Wednesday, August 6th, 2014

With each passing day, our cottage is looking more and more like an actual home. It is with a bit of trepidation that I can finally say: if we were to plaster tomorrow, I wouldn't freak out about all the things that aren't good enough yet. It's not...

Quilting the House

Saturday, August 2nd, 2014

Tara: We've arrived at the stitching phase of our building adventure! Like pretty much every other part of this process, I've had a looming fear about it. I was afraid that "quilting" the house—attaching the exterior wire mesh to the interior wir...

Making Window Reveals

Thursday, July 24th, 2014

It feels like we've been saying we are "almost ready to plaster!" for ages now. And by "ages" I mean a few weeks, back when Pete and Natasha finished installing straw bales in the gable ends of the cottage. Ever since, there has been a non-stop sup...

We're Doing It

Saturday, July 19th, 2014

A few years ago, when we were dreaming of our homesteading adventure, I happened to read a blog post that completely floored me. It was about a young Vermont couple that was in the process of building their own home. And it wasn't just any house—it...

Progress

Tuesday, July 15th, 2014

Hi Ho Hi Ho

Saturday, July 12th, 2014

It's off to work I go! ...

Mole Face Morning

Monday, July 7th, 2014

Ever since last week's freak out, we've been getting up even earlier than usual. This lets me spend more time on the house with Tara before I have to go to work, which makes her feel more supported and less like our house-building project is never ...

Chainsawing Kitchen Niches in Strawbale

Sunday, July 6th, 2014

This morning, we chainsawed niches in the kitchen wall to hold spices: ...

Affixing Wire Mesh in the Rain

Friday, July 4th, 2014

A Freak-Out Kind of Day

Wednesday, July 2nd, 2014

Lately, building a home feels impossible. Even so, I keep slogging along, not out of hope or excitement or joy, but because I feel shackled to the task. It doesn't feel like I'm living out my wildest dreams, it's more like my life is being held ho...

Weekend Work

Sunday, June 29th, 2014

After saying goodbye to Pete and Natasha (we miss you already!), "normal" life resumed, which means pretty much one thing: construction. Even though P & N completed the baling on both gable ends of the cottage (THANK YOU!!), we still have load...

This is Natasha & Pete

Saturday, June 28th, 2014

After our first meeting in Southeast Asia, Tara and Tyler have made yearly trips to Tennessee to visit. When they bought their land, we were super excited for them, partly because it was the beginning of their homesteading dreams, but mostly becaus...

Thank You Hartmans!

Wednesday, June 18th, 2014

So, our dear friends were a wee bit modest in the journal entry they were kind enough to write for us. First of all, they really did drive sixteen hours through the night with a SIX MONTH OLD BABY to come see us. Damn. And then, as if that wasn't a...

This is the Hartman Family

Tuesday, June 17th, 2014

Julia: The week after I finished school (I’m a music teacher), right in the middle of my husband Dan’s busiest time at work (he's a musician, who also engineers stuff), we traveled from Illinois to Vermont in one very long trek with our 6-mont...

Baling Begins at Last

Tuesday, June 10th, 2014

So, after three years of dreaming and planning, we've finally reached the baling portion of building a straw bale house. I have to take a minute to register my shock at how long we've been working on this project. Where on earth has the time gone...

Straw Bale Delivery!

Sunday, May 11th, 2014

The straw bales are here! ...

Building A Pony Wall

Thursday, May 8th, 2014

For the last few days, we have been framing a pony wall around the perimeter of our house. The main purpose of this framing is to raise our strawbales above grade so they can't get wet, but we're also going to use portions of it for storage. Every ...

General Contractor

Monday, May 5th, 2014

Last summer, Tyler was the general contractor for our road building, foundation laying, and grindbygg timber framing efforts. It seemed like he was always on the phone, planning the next stage of our projects. This year, with his new job consuming...

Straw Bale Workshop

Tuesday, April 15th, 2014

For the past week, we've had the privilege of attending a straw bale workshop run by Andrew Morrison at The Healing Co-op in Middletown, Rhode Island. We've come away from the experience feeling changed and blessed. The hands-on lessons Andrew ga...

Thoughts on Building and Learning

Monday, March 10th, 2014

After a productive planning session with Charlie, Becky treated us to a fabulous supper of homemade pizza topped with spicy merguez sausage, arugula, parmesan cheese, and pickled red onions. As we settled in for the meal, our conversation turned to...

Planning with Charlie

Monday, March 10th, 2014

With Tyler working full-time at Bocoup, I've taken on the role of contractor for our house-construction project. We're still going to work together on the building process, but I'm doing the vast majority of the scheduling, calculating, ordering, a...

Designing Our House: The Windows

Thursday, March 6th, 2014

Over the past few months, I've been researching, planning, and gathering materials for the construction of our little cottage. My first area of focus has been the windows. Initially, I went through a phase where I was dead-set on having wavy glass ...

Strawbales Found

Monday, November 25th, 2013

This week, I found a listing for straw bales that looked really promising. When I called Gary, the farmer selling the bales, he knew just what I wanted. Almost before I could describe our plans, he was saying, "Oh yeah, this is what you're lookin...

Finding Strawbales for Construction

Sunday, November 17th, 2013

Gearing up for construction season this coming Spring, I've been focusing my attention on acquiring the straw bales that will form the walls of our house and workshop. After poring over our green building books and various online sources, I compil...

"The Hay House" in Old Saybrook, Connecticut

Saturday, October 20th, 2012

Our Vermont vacation has come to a close. Our family has flown home, and all that remains of the previous week is a wealth of memories and photos. Tara and I are back in the car, headed west. Before we return to Minnesota, we have one last natur...

Thatching Research: Deanne Bednar's Strawbale Studio

Thursday, October 4th, 2012

The second stop on our roadtrip to Vermont is to see a woman named Deanne, a natural builder, and the illustrator for several cob-related books such as The Hand-Sculpted House and The Cobber's Companion. Her land is home to the Strawbale Studio, ...

Switching to Strawbale, Part Two

Wednesday, 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 One

Wednesday, 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...