Calendar
June 6-12: Straw Bale Construction with Plasters Workshop
Turtle Rock Farm and Retreat, Red Rock, Oklahoma
A Center for Sustainability, Spirituality and Healing
Join us for an informative and inspirational week of hands-on experience constructing a straw bale hermitage at the Turtle Rock Farm and Retreat. This educational workshop will be led by natural building experts Steve Kemble and Mollie Curry of MudStrawLove, LLC from Asheville, NC and Oklahoma builder Tom Temple of Sustainable Design. During this week, we will stack and secure the bales, prep the wall system for plaster and apply the first coat of earthen plaster on a small post-and-beam hermitage. We will be using clay found on the farm, as well as straw bales from the farm.
This workshop will provide hands-on training in straw bale construction as well as instruction on other natural building methods. We will learn about all the aspects of building beautiful, durable, cozy straw bale walls, including stacking, shaping, chinking, and plastering. We will also have a chance to connect with others and build community in a beautiful, peaceful setting on the north central Oklahoma prairie. It promises to be a whole lot of fun! See the Turtle Rock Farm website to get a good feel for the place and to register!
Participants have the choice of lodging at one of the houses at Turtle Rock Farm, or tent camping on-site. All meals will be provided by Turtle Rock Farm staff and shared by the community.
Fee for the week of instruction, lodging and meals is $425. Couples, $375 each. Instruction, meals and camping, $375. Deposit to hold your space is $150. Spaces for this retreat will be limited. Call for more information.
For those who cannot attend the full workshop, Mollie and Steve will lead a discussion and slide show about straw bale construction and natural building on Sunday, June 6 from 2:00-5:00, for a cost of $25 (no additional cost for week-long participants).
Send your non-refundable $150.00 deposit with registration form to:
Turtle Rock Farm, 5900 CR 90, Red Rock, OK 74651
Please make checks payable to Turtle Rock Farm.
To find the registration form, go to this this page on the Turtle Rock Farm website. Scroll down to the class and click on the title, "Straw Bale Construction of Hermitage," to download and print a PDF of the registration form.
Registration ends May 6. All classes have a non-refundable reservation fee unless the class is cancelled, in which case all funds will be returned to you. If you are unable to attend, funds can be applied to a later class at Turtle Rock.
For more information about the site, accomodations or registration, call Turtle Rock Farm at 580.725.3411 or 580.917.6011, or email to annmcferron "at" hotmail.com (replace the "at" with the appropriate character).
To contact MudStrawLove LLC, call 828.775.4823 or email to connect "at" mudstrawlove.com (replace the "at" with the appropriate character).
Jul 5-mid August: NATURAL BUILDING APPRENTICESHIP
Location: Rural site near Dover, Delaware
Instructors: Steve Kemble and Mollie Curry
Paid stipend of $200/week
We have room for 5-6 apprentices who are serious about learning and practicing straw bale, cob and earthen plastering techniques in the context of a real job setting.
Steve Kemble and Mollie Curry of MudStrawLove, LLC out of Asheville, NC will lead the program. They have 35 years of combined experience with straw bale and other natural building techniques. Steve and Mollie will be teaching all the techniques associated with the bale wall assembly, including stacking, securing, shaping and prepping bales for plaster, cob chinking and sculpting, window and door details, electrical, mixing and applying interior earthen plasters. There may be opportunities for learning lime plastering techniques as well. You will be working with the natural building team 40 hours/week on the construction of an off-the-grid straw bale house located at a rural site near Dover, Delaware.
This project incorporates other green features such as passive solar design, locally harvested and milled lumber, FSC lumber, completely off-grid photovoltaic electrical system, geothermal heating/cooling as well as straw bale walls with local clay interior plaster and lime exterior plaster. The foundation, roof and garage/barn will be completed prior to your arrival. There will be primitive accommodations for apprentices to live on site, sleeping in their own tent and sharing outdoor shower, kitchen and composting toilet facilities, with the option of conventional housing 5 minutes away. This is a newly developing 200 acre heavily wooded site located in a beautiful rural setting near Dover, Delaware. The site is located on the Delaware peninsula between the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays, within a 2-hour drive of Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington DC.
The apprenticeship includes a $200/week paid stipend. Apprentices are expected to be strong workers committed to learning about natural building. This will be an on-the-job learning experience, working approximately 40 hours per week on this project for the duration of the apprenticeship. Full or part-time (paid) employment may be available after the apprenticeship to complete the plastering.
Please contact MudStrawLove, LLC (connect@mudstrawlove.com) to set up a telephone interview at (828)775-4823.
PAST WORKSHOPS & OTHER EVENTS
Spring 2010
May 21-23: Straw Bale and Lime Plaster Intro Workshop
Clemson, South Carolina
$195 if registered by May 1, $230 until cut-off date (May 14th)
This three day workshop introduces the basics of building with straw bales, including how to plaster them. Along with a day of stacking bales, this class will cover what is often missing from a "bale-wall-raising" type workshop: how to prep for plaster and get a good base coat of plaster onto the bales. It is a great intro into the whole subject of how to build a straw bale building--and promises to be a ton of fun!
The site is a partially-completed lime-plastered straw bale house with most phases of construction visible, from finished exterior plaster to yet-to-be-built interior walls. We will be employing an innovative "split-bale" method for the nine-inch-thick interior partition walls. This workshop will include prepping, stacking, and pinning split-bales to construct these walls, trimming and shaping the straw walls, "chinking" the cracks with cob (a mixture of clay, sand, and straw), and applying a base coat of lime plaster.
The three days will be filled with hands-on learning as well as some lecture and discussion. Much of the workshop will be conducted in the interior of the building, which will be a comfortable working environment come rain or shine. An evening slide show with various examples of straw bale construction and plaster options will also be presented.
The main instructors, Steve Kemble and Mollie Curry of MudStrawLove LLC, bring over 33 years of combined experience with straw bale building and other natural building methods. The owner-builder, Matthew Nistico, will also assist in the instruction. Mollie first got her feet muddy at Earthaven EcoVillage (Black Mountain, NC) in 1996 and has been teaching people about natural building ever since. Steve was involved in the first ever straw bale workshop (1990), and has lost count of the number of bale buildings he has had his hand in. He also co-produced a straw bale construction how-to video and book, as well as the first video about building with straw bales.
Lodging: Camping on-site and nearby hotels are the options for lodging. No kitchen available. Outdoor shower and bathroom will be available. Restaurants and hotels are within 5 minutes driving distance.
Food: One meal a day will be provided, and drinking water will be available at all times. Participants will be responsible for providing for their other food and drink needs.
To register, please contact Matthew Nistico at elessarrex "at" hotmail.com (replace the "at" with the appropriate character) or 301-785-1771
Fall 2009
October 23-25, 2009
Twin Oaks Intentional Community, Louisa, VA
Straw Bale/Natural Building Workshop
More info at: http://theFEC.org/workshop
Late August through mid-October 2009
Asheville, NC area
Natural Building Series (Weekends)
Sponsored by Kleiwerks International/Ashevillage Institute. Details PENDING. Please go to http://www.kleiwerks.org and make contact through their website/contact form.
Summer 2009
June 16 through August 15, 2009
Straw Bale Apprenticeship, Davidsonville, MD
This apprenticeship is for people who want to get serious about learning and practicing strawbale building techniques in the context of a real job setting. Steve and Mollie will live and work with you for an 8-week period, teaching all the techniques associated with the bale wall assembly, including stacking, securing, shaping and prepping bales for plaster, cobbing, window and door details, electrical, mixing and applying interior earthen plasters. There may be opportunities for learning lime plastering techniques as well. You will be working with the strawbale team 40 hours/week (4 weekdays and one weekend day) on the construction of a straw bale house in Davidsonville, Maryland. In addition to learning and practicing strawbale construction methods, you will apply your newly acquired knowledge by helping train and lead volunteer crews one day each weekend.
The project is a two-story house that incorporates other green features such as passive solar design, locally harvested and milled lumber, photovoltaics, and geothermal heating/cooling as well as straw bale and local clay plasters. The foundation and roof will be completed prior to your arrival. Apprentices can live on site, either in their own tent, or in a shared 3 bedroom (partial strawbale) house. The farm on which the house is situated has a pool, a tennis court, miles of trails, and an organic herb-growing operation, and is located near Annapolis, the Chesapeake Bay, Baltimore, and DC.
The apprenticeship includes housing (limited) or tent site and a $200/week cash stipend. Full or part-time (paid) employment is possible after the apprenticeship to complete the plastering. Apprentices are expected to be strong workers committed to learning about strawbale construction.
Please send a letter describing your interest in the program, any past experience you might have, contact information and available times for telephone interview to at romeypittman "at" verizon.net (replace the "at" with the appropriate character).
Spring 2009
May 22 and 23, 2009, 10 am-5:30 pm
Lime Plaster Volunteer Workday
at cob/strawbale house at Earthaven EcoVillage, Black Mountain, NC
This is a stunning project that is nearing completion. Email us by Thursday (5/21) to RSVP. Lunch provided. Limited space. There will be more workdays following, led by Steve-O Brodmerkel. Call him at 828-669-6666 for more info. These are workdays, not workshops.
May 15 and 16, 2009, 10 am-5:30 pm
Lime Plaster Volunteer Workday
at cob/strawbale house at Earthaven Ecovillage, Black Mountain, NC
This is a stunning project that is nearing completion. Email us by Thursday to RSVP (5/14). Lunch provided. Limited space.
March 28-May 3, 2009
Sculptural Cob Benches/Masonry Stove
Private residence, Alexandria, VA. This project turned out beautifully! We now know how to build a Temp-Cast Masonry stove and clad it with cob!
March 6-8; March 13-15, 2009
Two-Part Earthbag Building Workshop
Johnstown, St. Thomas Parish, Jamaica
Hosted by the Source Farm Ecovillage (www.TheSourceFarm.com), in conjunction with OkOkOk Productions (www.okokok.org) and the Jamaican National Housing Trust.
In this workshop, you will learn the basics of building with earthbags in a hands-on project constructing a residence. This method of filling polypropylene bags with local earth and stacking them like large bricks is very appropriate for warm humid climates (like tropical islands!)--it is very hurricane-resistant. It is also applicable to other climates.
This workshop was a great success with ample participation from Jamaicans who are excited to spread the method. In Jamaica, concrete blocks are expensive and labor is cheap, so earthbags are a great regional housing solution.
Fall 2008
November 4, 2008
Exterior Lime Plaster Volunteer Work Party.
Earthaven EcoVillage, Black Mountain, NC
October 23-24 , 2008, 10am-6pm/ 2 day workshop
Natural Finishes: Earthen Plasters and Clay Paints
Location: The Ashevillage Institute (AVI), downtown Asheville
Fee: $150 (includes materials)
Bring a bagged lunch.
For more info or to register: AVI@ashevillage.org; (828) 225-8820
Learn how to make and apply your own beautiful, customized, totally eco-friendly, organic plasters and paints for interior and exterior walls. Create textured finishes; make and apply casein washes; troubleshoot for various surfaces; play with sculpting. Leave with your own sample board.
Oct 19-20, 2008
Exterior Lime Plaster Volunteer Work Party
Earthaven EcoVillage, Black Mountain, NC
Sept 29, 2008
Exterior Earthen Plaster Vounteer Workday
Dancing Springs Farm, Barnardsville, NC
September 6, 2008
Exterior Lime Plaster Work Party
Earthaven EcoVillage, Black Mountain, NC
Summer 2008
June 28, 2008
Permaculture Workshop (Natural Building day)
Asheville, NC.
Sponsored by Ashevillage Institute
June 26-27, 2008
Natural Building Workshop, Asheville, NC
Sponsored by Ashevillage Institute
June 20-22, 2008
Asheville, NC
We will be leading a hands-on plastering project at the "Ashevillage Building Convergence."
Spring 2008
We are involved in designing and building the Builders Without Borders straw bale "Eco-House" demonstration that will be on exhibit at the US Botanic Garden in Washington, DC from May 25 through the end of September 2008. We are erecting the building between May 6 and May 24, 2008. See Builders Without Borders for more info. View photo of us standing in front of the Eco-House on the OK OK OK Productions website.
