George Remedios has planted ten ‘food forests’ in Mumbai, India over the course of six years. Some of them are in a space as small as just 13 feet by 145 feet. Along with mangoes, coconut, papayas, guavas, pomegranates, bananas, and jujubes you see monkeys, squirrels, birds and bees that come to feed on the … Read more
This an introduction to insulated rammed earth. SIREWALL is the acronym for this modernized green building technique and it stands for: Structural Insulated Rammed Earth. In this video, we’re meeting Tony Johnson from Earth House Holdings to learn about rammed earth construction, and to get a peek at the rammed earth home he is building … Read more
For years Morgan Caraway had an ambition to build a pool below the natural spring on his property. He knew that filling the pool would be easy, because gravity would move the water. His dream finally came true in 2018, and here are the steps he and his wife, Mary Jane, took to build their … Read more
Hermits clamped their dwellings on to Meteora boulders in Greece. Meteora has been considered a holy place since the Paleolithic, several millennia before Christians were attracted by the area’s majestic boulders. Later, monasticism flourished since Byzantine times, during which at least 24 monasteries were founded and maintained. Today, only six of them are inhabited. Meteora … Read more
Recently Kimi Ishikawa posted this comment on the blog post about building their tire bale house in New Mexico: I hear people referring to tire bales as “thermal mass” and others referring to them as “insulation.” It can’t be both, right? Aren’t “thermal mass” and “insulation” mutually exclusive? I understand “thermal mass” to be a … Read more
The St Michael and All Angels Anglican Church in Clyde, New Zealand was built in 1877 with schist stone. It was the focus for the local community for nearly 150 years until falling numbers made it uneconomical to run and it was put up for sale. The property has a Historic Place heritage listing. People … Read more