This video tours a farm with fruit and nut trees. The hosts forage as they go, and then cook a pavlova and make tea, entirely from foraged ingredients. They chat about how grateful they are to be nurtured by the trees planted and the actions taken by their parents and grandparents. 60 years ago their … Read more
As many of you know I maintain an “Ask the Experts” opportunity at www.greenhomebuilding.com for people to post specific questions that they might have regarding various aspects of natural building and sustainable architecture. I have been doing this for about two decades and some of the experts have been helping me with this for about … Read more
Ten years ago when Tim Kroeker’s last child finally graduated high school, he and his wife decided it was now or never to follow through on their many years-long dream of building a house…an alternative house…in “the country”. They had investigated a number of construction methods…straw bale, cordwood masonry, rammed earth, Earthship, log, etc. …and … Read more
In the last post I referenced the work of Sindhu Bhaskar as part of the Thannal Mud Homes Trust in India. She and her architect husband Biju built their own earthbag home made almost entirely with natural materials. In this video you can see how they made this 550 Sq Ft home in one and … Read more
Over one-third of the world’s population still lives in mud homes made with mud, but their popularity has been steadily declining. A recent survey conducted by scientists from India and The Netherlands found that cement’s popularity and availability were the main reason. It is a matter of “societal image” that is the key barrier to … Read more
This man built a beautiful off-grid cabin with the help of friends for $65,000 CAD including the cost of the land. There was no road access to his lot so he had to bring in all of the building materials using a 4-wheeler with a small trailer, and then load them on a material elevator … Read more