STRAW BALE & PLASTER WORKSHOPS APRIL 2018
Dear Friends-
I’m excited to announce an upcoming workshop series that combines nearly all of my primary interests: natural building, farming, education and intentional community. In collaboration with the amazing folks at the School of Adaptive Agriculture, located at the Ridgewood Ranch community near Willits, California, we’ll be building an efficient low-tech walk-in produce cooler for the farm, using straw bales, clay and lime plasters. The workshop will cover all the essentials of how to construct any simple straw bale building. I’ll be co-teaching with my friend Ananth Nagarajan, a skilled and passionate builder who keeps up on all the latest developments in natural building. For details of schedules, cost and registration, please go to http://www.school-of-adaptive-agriculture.org/event/naturalbuilding/
Hope to see you there!
New Workshops for Spring 2017
Hi friends-
We’ve been busy at Spreadwing Farm, with a bunch of new building projects. One of them is a new workshop and packing shed complete with straw bale walk-in coolers. I’d like to show you what we’ve been doing and invite you back into the mud and straw. Please join us for one or all 3 of these upcoming workshops!
Let me know if you have any questions. Here’s mud in your eye!
Michael
Wall to Wall workshop series
Hi, friends-
I’m excited to announce a series of 5 4-day hands-on Natural Building workshop that I’ll be teaching with my colleague Amanda Fischer in May and June of 2016 in Willits, CA. This is a rare opportunity to get a highly in-depth natural building training. By attending all 5 workshops you will learn 10 building techniques plus a great deal of building science, design methodology, and other theory. Or you can pick and choose which workshops to attend based on your interest in specific techniques. For more details or to register, go to
instagram.com/walltowallworkshop
Hope to see you there!
Michael
Building with Earth and Straw
Join me for a 6-day hands-on workshop June 14-19.
Building with Earth and Straw
Build your own earth oven
Build Your Own Earth Oven
Hands-on workshop with Michael G. Smith
Saturday, October 19, 2013, 9 am to 4 pm
Rumsey, Capay Valley, CA
Cost: $60 if paid by Sept 20; $75 thereafter. Includes a delicious organic lunch. Kids under 10 are free.
Wood-fired, retained heat ovens have been used for millennia all around the world to bake everything from bread and pizzas to meat and vegetables. Learn to build your own from inexpensive natural materials: clay, sand, straw, and bricks for the floor. This is a great first project for anyone who wants to learn to build with earth and everyone who loves good home-cooked food.
Michael G. Smith has been building with earth and straw since 1993, when he helped found the Cob Cottage Company in Oregon. He is the author of “The Cobber’s Companion” and co-author of “The Hand-Sculpted House” and “The Art of Natural Building.” He has built over 20 earthen ovens in workshop settings, at private homes, educational centers, a restaurant, a cooking school, and a community center.
To register or for more information, contact me.