“Rising Earth Natural Building represents the professional activities of ecological designer, building contractor, and community facilitator Michael McDonough. Primary work is sustainable design/build with elemental materials (stone, earth, wood, straw) in residential and public contexts.
Below Grade Earthbag Domes
Email from a reader: Hello, I am trying to put together a design for an earthbag dome built into a hill in New York, and for a few reasons, I would like to have some of it underground. Actually, there are two adjacent domes, one with a diameter and height of 14′, and the other 8′. The frost line here is at least 48″, and I’ll probably go down further.
Hempcrete Update: Greater Availability of Legal Hemp in US
Good news for those interested in building with hempcrete in the US. Recent laws are making it much easier to obtain legal hemp for making hempcrete. Some hempcrete mixes turn almost as hard as stone.
Good Time to Buy Foreclosed Farm Land?
I’m hearing reports of large numbers of U.S. farmers going broke due to economic problems, drought, old age and no children to pass the farm down to, and excessive government regulations. Some newscasters are predicting higher food prices or even food shortages this year (2017) in the U.S.
20 Free DIY Tiny House Plans
My name is Gina, the main editor at MorningChores.com. I wanted to let you know that we have a collection of 20 DIY tiny house plans which people can actually build by themselves. It might be helpful for your website’s visitors. I think it’d be a nice addition to your blog.
Here’s the link to it: http://morningchores.com/tiny-house-plans/
From Grasslands to Permaculture Food Forest Paradise in Noosa Australia
“In this video Ian walks through Noosa Forest Retreat on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland Australia, showing various stages in establishing a food forest.”