July 9-13, 2022

Hello friends-
I greatly enjoyed last year’s workshop series at Abuela Gardens in Willits CA. In case you missed them, we will be offering two more Natural Building workshops there in 2022. There are other great workshops on offer including a Permaculture Design Course and an Herbal Medicine Apprenticeship. See more details here: https://www.abuelagardens.com

I hope to see you at one of these excellent events!
Michael

Instructors:

Sasha Rabin, Michael G. Smith, Colin Gillespie

Like two jam-packed workshops in one! Come build a rocket mass heater, a super-efficient wood-burning stove that stores heat in the thermal mass of an earthen bench. Learn about the many exciting RMH variations and possibilities: batch vs. downfeed! cooking! water heating! hypocaust floors! 

At the same time, we will be exploring a range of high-insulation and thermal mass natural building systems including cob, straw bale, light straw-clay, and slipsquatch (redwood bark and clay.) We will also install the drainage layer and the first pour of an earthen floor.

Students will rotate daily between several hands-on projects so that they get to know each of these techniques. Daily lectures cover the theoretical knowledge you will need to design your own project: how a RMH works; dangers, do’s, and don’ts; thermal properties of natural building systems; and how to combine them all into an energy-efficient passive solar home.