Landscaping isn’t just for looks. Landscaping is very important for creating an inviting, appealing home. A nice yard will greatly moderate extremes in temperature and create a much more pleasant environment. I thought I’d share my experience of how my girlfriend and I have transformed our rather ordinary ranch style house by focusing on our … Read more
The previous blog post about Pacific Style architecture brought up the topic of garden walls with flowing water, so I did a quick search on the Internet for a few examples. These samples may be a little over the top, but keep in mind they don’t have to be large and complicated. You can create … Read more
Most readers are familiar with the major architectural styles – Modern, Art Deco, Country, Arts and Crafts, Mission, Ranch, Victorian, Colonial, Greek Revival, Gothic and Prairie Style come to mind. One major and very appealing style that’s sometimes overlooked is Pacific Style. Some of the finest examples of Pacific Style are not on the Internet … Read more
The folks at Our Little Thing blog have created a wonderful example of a pit greenhouse built with earthbags, PVC pipe, some wood, and plastic cover. This is the second one they have built, having learned many things from the first trial. In the harsh Patagonian climate, they plan to grow many things that are … Read more
I see at least two main approaches to building a pit house with earthbags: 1. Mimic Mike Oehler’s greenhouse design using earthbags instead of poles and shoring. 2. Mimic conventional walipini pit greenhouses. That’s what I’ve chosen to do in the following drawing. It’s very similar to typical walipini’s, so follow the directions in the … Read more
Instructables.com is one of my favorite sites and so I’ve been publishing how-to articles there for the last year or so. Here’s a list of the most popular Instructables on earthbag building. How to Build an Earthbag Dome Step-by-Step Earthbag Building How to Build an Earthbag Roundhouse How to Build Dirt Cheap Houses How to … Read more