– Step one: We spend years working to pay the mortgage, buy nicer cars, more gadgets, trendier clothes. Leaving us with piles and piles of stuff.
– Step two: Cleaning out, moving, or just tryng to free up some space. We realize not only that these previous purchases haven’t brought us meaning, but that they’ve actually distracted us from what is most meaningful.
eco friendly
Turning Round Straw Bales into Rectangular Building Bales
Cliff, one of our long time readers, sent me the photo above and the following email.
“Just a heads up on something I see coming in the future in the straw bale world. Small round bales. Lots of reasons. There are a lot of lifestyle or small farmers who can’t afford or need the big expensive bales. These smaller balers are much cheaper to buy and operate. The bales are much more weather resistant than square bales. Here in NZ they can fit down a row of vines in a vineyard. Any other baler can’t go there. I think we may see some innovation in the straw bale building world. You use what is available and as these become more available people will adapt to using them.”
Milkwood Natural Building Reciprocal Roof
Milkwood.net: “We’re dedicated to awesome homesteading skills for city & country – keeping life simple, organic and deliciously real.
Steve’s New Straw Bale House in Scotland
Yesterday’s blog post was about Steve’s unpermitted straw bale house in Scotland. This is the new straw bale house he is building that includes an amazing (first ever?) double reciprocal roof.
£4000 Strawbale House in Scotland
Steve built a £4000 ($6,260) unpermitted house in Scotland a few years back with local materials. (He hopes to build it for less next time.) The results are marvelous as you can see. His websites are packed with wonderful photos and drawings that show the details. Now you know why I get so excited about natural building, especially when there are no codes to deal with. At just a little over $6,200, just imagine how many hundreds of thousands of homeowners (or millions) could build their own debt free homes. This is something most Americans can afford. Compare this to paying $500/month rent for one year = $6,000. Or invest $6,000 in a natural house and live rent free for the rest of your life. Lots of people are already living this way, and there’s obviously a groundswell of interest as this information spreads.
Minnesota Strawbale: Fruits of our Labor
“The first structure we built on our 9 acres was the tool shed. (After it served its purpose for storing tools it became a chicken coop, then a mini art studio and is now a sauna!) The second structure we built was this outbuilding that we call The Shop (pictured above). On the ground floor is Ken’s custom cabinetry workshop. He is a true craftsman. The upstairs portion is used for storage, although I imagine a remote guest quarters or art studio as another use for that space.”