Building a well designed, passive solar house can mean comfort in both summer and winter, with minimal energy inputs. On the hottest day of summer, it’s comfortable and cool inside. On the coldest night of the year, passively collected solar heat warms … Continued
There’s not many 14 year olds that get their own house – much less one they built themselves, with help from family, friends and community. May we introduce you to the tinyhouse that Zephyr built. This beautiful little hand-made home sits out … Continued
Greywater is a fabulous, though often underused, household resource that should be used wherever possible. Here’s a home made 3 bathtub greywater system that’s simple but effective. If you live in an area where water is precious at certain times … Continued
The range of different natural building techniques out there are many, and all of them are exciting. But when to use which technique? Here’s a starting guide for choosing what to build your walls from. Though all very different, and used … Continued
There’s a lot packed into our 3 day Natural Building course – students learn hands-on techniques in mud + lime renders, earth floors, strawbale, roundwood building, reciprocal roofs and more. Most folks that come to this course are there to … Continued
While we were down Bega way at the South East Permaculture Convergence recently, Ashar and I got a chance to hang with my friend Annie at her family’s little patch of paradise, Autumn Farm. Autumn Farm prettymuch sums up simple … Continued
Natural Building is rather a broad subject. It takes in everything from strawbale building to cobb, light earth, rammed earth, roundwood construction, earth floors and mud and lime wall renders, just for starters. We figure it’s best to dive straight in, … Continued
On our last Natural Building course, we built a portable reciprocal roundhouse frame. Beauty meets strength meets simplicity. Using sapling logs (though you can use bamboo instead, or framing timber, at a pinch) plus ropes and screws, this structure went up … Continued
After completing the strawbale walls and the roundwood, reciprocal roof of the Milkwood Roundhouse, we wanted a gorgeous floor to complete this hand-crafted natural building. So an earthen floor was a natural choice. There’s not much easily accessible info out … Continued
The final stage of building the roof of our roundhouse was to transform it into a garden. Living roofs can help insulate the building below, provide pollination sources for surrounding wildlife and help the building blend into the landscape. However, … Continued
Reciprocal roof frames are self-supporting structures that date back to the 12th Century. They are used in Chinese and Japanese architecture, as well as being something that Leonardo Da Vinci explored in detail. The interlocking nature of the separate members creates a … Continued
A few months ago we raised a strawbale roundhouse with a reciprocal roof as part of our first Natural Building Workshop at Milkwood Farm. Now that we’re nearing the end of this build, I thought I’d step you through the … Continued
Following on from raising the walls of this roundhouse in four days, Floyd and Shane have been focussed on getting this little place finished before Winter. And yep, we’ve all noticed the speed at which things progress when you go … Continued
