Natural buildings are an ancient tradition with a modern appeal. Creating healthy, beautiful homes from natural materials such as earth, straw and timber, building naturally is the ultimate expression of ecological design. Building isn’t ‘done’ to us – it can be done by us. The skills and techniques used in natural building are hands-on and accessible, enabling us all to design our own healthy living spaces bringing people and the elements together.
Kelly Hart
Few or No Residential Building Codes in Brewster County, Texas
From time to time we feature areas around the U.S. that have few or no building codes. Today we profile Brewster County, Texas. Codes typically skyrocket the cost of construction ten-fold, so we encourage natural builders to seek out rural areas with minimal building codes. Search our blog for lots of other counties with few or no codes.
DIY Primitive Water Filter
Learn how to make a no cost, simple water filter using three baskets made from vines. The baskets are filled with charcoal, river sand and pebbles to purify the water.
Tiny Hobbit House with Amazing Green Roof & Straw Bale Walls
Video tour of an incredible underground hobbit home in Canada that is completely off-grid. It is built with straw bale walls and limestone plaster, log roof rafters and support columns, and a stunning green roof with a glass dome in the centre to bring in a lot of natural light.
Underground Cities of Cappadocia
I reported on the Underground Cities of Cappadocia back in 2014. What I didn’t realize then was how vast these underground cities are. There is a network of over 200 underground cities in the Cappadocia region of Turkey. Some of these cities are at least 11 levels deep (total of over 200 feet deep) according to National Geographic. Scientists are not sure how they were built.
No Dig Gardening: feed the soil not the plants for many, easier harvests and few weeds
After 11 months of no feeds or fertilisers, see the fine growth of Homeacres vegetables, many planted in summer after clearing first harvests, and no compost or other food added. In undisturbed and mulched soil, organisms manage resources better plus plants root more easily, as you see here.