Their funky, multi-generational home has curved, two-foot thick cob walls — a mixture of water, clay (the glue), sand and straw (the strength) as well as pumice (for extra insulation.)

 

Gord Baird’s daughter Emily, 7 at the time, shows a handful of the cob mixture, which resembles mud.

“It looks like mud when you’re building it,” says Ann Baird, noting they used a rototiler to mix the ingredients. She says she and her husband fell in love with cob when they used it to build a wood-working shop on their eight-acre site. She says it’s inexpensive and so easy to work with that “a kid can do it.”

A variety of cob houses exist in Europe, some hundreds of years old, but they are rare in North America. I’ve written about straw bale, hemp and modular homes, but this is the first cob one I’ve chosen as “This Week’s Green House.” Rest of article here

Invented more than five decades ago, the modern shipping container is the linchpin in our global distribution network of products. In the containers go toys from China, textiles from India, grain from America, and cars from Germany. In go electronics, chocolate, and cheese.

While a number of resourceful people have converted shipping containers into make-shift shelters at the margin of society for years, architects and green designers are also increasingly turning to the strong, cheap boxes as source building blocks.

More at:

I’m preparing to leave the farm…

Living in an isolated rural area while trying to pursue a modern occupation (as a corporate architect) is hard. So I’m going to come down from the mountain. I am going in the opposite direction of Lao Tsu but perhaps I have learned some of the same lessons including:

• At the center of your being you have the answer; you know who you are and you know what you want.
• He who does not trust enough, will not be trusted.
• If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.
• He who knows that enough is enough will always have enough.
• Anticipate the difficult by managing the easy.
  

  tomato tao

Ways that I have changed, lessons I have learned are:

• I am both more gentle and more brutal (as opposed to the requisite mediocrity  that prevails in the modern world)
• I can only do so much navel gazing; the heart of living is action/interaction. This is perhaps the lesson to be gleaned from the tragic tale of   Christopher McCandless the true-life protagonist of the book/movie “Into the Wild“
  
• If I can learn how to be a small time farmer/rancher, anyone can (however, see below)
• You can’t do it alone. Good neighbors have helped me every step of the way. With gardening and livestock management, sharing knowledge and tasks is essential
• I am not the only one finding spirituality in these mountains, there is a major buddhist retreat/temple just up the road from me ( http://www.shambhalamountain.org/)

“The [connected] man goes through his life without any one preconceived course of action or any taboo. He merely decides for the moment what is the right thing to do.” –Li Chi

In preparation for renting the property, I have to take care of a few things including:

• Silencing my rooster. Poor guy. I hate having to do this. They all seem to know when it’s their turn. EC, normally combative, just stood by me as I crouched down to his level. No fighting, just acceptance. It was quick. The hens will stay with the renters.
• The horses should still be grazing on the pasture. I would to love to see them there when I return.
• I will find homes for my goats. Since most of them are does, they should live long lives as mothers. However, Iam concerned about my castrated male, Mr. Squarehead. I did recommend him as a pet to my rancher friends but he may not be so lucky. What a great goat with a fantastic disposition. I’ll miss you Square (photo below center with Snowflake-left and Ellie May-right when kids)

Those are some adorable goats, not like this guy below:

Some additional random thoughts

• I’ve rediscovered cumin (an underrated spice)
• My pumpkins and potatoes are thriving. The chickens will dig up some of the potatoes if the renters are not careful though.
• I found out the answer to a long wondered question. When is it more economical to drive with your windows down and when should you use air conditioning? Answer: Use air-conditioning at 50 miles per hour or faster. At speeds slower than 50mph you can use wind conditioning because the air drag is minimal. (source: Mythbusters show)
• The sound of wind through Aspens sounds like running water

Thanks for reading… have a wonderful day!

Check out the long film at www.ecofilm.de ! It is part of the DVD “Sepp Holzer´s Permaculture” which you can purchase there.
This is a clip from the film “Farming With Nature” about permaculture farmer Sepp Holzer. We went to film Sepp Holzer for about 2,5 years. He created an edible landscape on 1500 m above sea level. Between the pinetree monocultures of Austria he built the biggest functioning permaculture landscape of Europe.
You can see all films about Sepp Holzer on a DVD called “Sepp Holzer´s Permaculture” published by the filmmakers, Malcolm St.Julian Bown and Heidi Snel. Find the DVD at www.ecofilm.de

Eggs

The chickens are back to full egg production and they are getting most of their food by foraging. This means even yellower eggs than usual. I did a little research to find out the differences between pasture-raised eggs and commercial eggs and…

Besides flavor, pasture-raised eggs seem to be better for you. Several studies suggest that they’re higher in omega-3s and vitamins A, B12, and E and lower in fat and cholesterol. The difference, according to Jo Robinson, author of Pasture Perfect (Vashon Island Press, 2004; $15) and founder of eatwild.com, is in the chickens’ feed. “Fresh grass is a very good source of omega-3 fatty acids and carotenoids. Eggs from chickens raised on good pasture have an intense yellow-gold color, most pronounced in the spring and early summer, when the grass is at its peak.” The shells, though, can be any color. Whether brown, white, or blue, they simply indicate the breed of chicken, not what it ate.In the supermarket, you’ll see “cage-free”and “organic” eggs, but these labels don’t specify feed and don’t necessarily mean that the birds spend time outside. “Pasture-raised” isn’t a government-approved definition, but it’s generally accepted to mean that the chicken got most of its nutrition from foraging, with some grain to supplement. Although these eggs aren’t widely available in stores, you can often find them at farmers’ markets.

Recent photos including some from hiking  the nearby National Forest

In other news:

• Horses are in other pastures this month
• I have decided that olive oil is truly a wonder food. 2 tablespoons/day. Has been attributed to aid in everything from better skin to belly fat removal. Just good stuff.
• I have found a goat proof plant – potatoes. Goats won’t touch the leaves (strawberries and broccolli however were not safe). I imagine deer will not eat these either and I know at least some varieites of potatoe even have poisonous leaves. Despite having a few potatoes dug up and eaten by chickens when first planted, they are now thriving.
• I planted my potatoes in a traditional row arrangement. For the redneck approach see below:
• 
• Other recent plantings include: pumpkins, spinach and carrots.
• “wild” rhubarb and asparagus has already sprouted in my front yard
• Chickens will respond to water from a garden house to remove them from the garden

That’s all from here…have a fine day!

I built my passive solar straw bale house with earthen plasters in 2000 for $50K (will most likely cost more today, depending on many factors). This is an overview of the house; it is extremely energy-efficient. My electric bills are about $35 per month.

Tour Scott McGuire’s “White Sage Gardens” in the back yard of his rental home — a demonstration site for suburban sustainability. He ponders, “How might a household produce and preserve a significant portion of its own food supply?” Composting, a water-conserving greenhouse, and seed-saving are all facets of this beautiful work in progress. [http://www.cocreativeliving.com]