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Our most popular book, Build Your Own Earth Oven, came out in 1998 – or was it ’97? The much-improved third edition offers a simpler, more efficient, better oven, and better bread. New ovens, methods, techniques, questions and answers at "hot from the oven". See what author Kiko Denzer is up to at his page.
Max Edleson brings a marvelous DVD from Argentina that describes and explains natural building principles and many unusual methods by which to apply them. The DVD features one of Max's mentors, Argentina's master builder Jorge Belanco. Watch Mud, Hands, A House — and build your own.
Ann Sayre Wiseman, author of Making Things, is working on a new book on how to work with your dreams using simple, intuitive methods that work. Tentative title? Don't Argue with Your Dreams! It's a great technique to use with kids' nightmares. See Ann's Nightmare Help for more. Ann will also be presenting at this year's dream conference at the American Association for the Study of Dreams, in Berkeley, CA.
Interest in wood-fired ovens, school gardens, real food, real community, earthen building – learning by doing – continues to grow, as we do. Yes, we're responsible!...as a raindrop is for the sea. It is fascinating to participate. Much of what we learn comes through readers and friends, so tell us about your creative projects related to any title, or related interest. See these pages to share your ovens, projects with kids, and workshops. Contact us! and help improve the site!
Featured Books:
Kiko Denzer : Structures
Rainer Warzecha, sculptor, oven mason, collaborator, Germany
Some years ago now, I got an unexpected email from Elke Cole, a German-born architect now living in Canada, whom I had originally met at the first Natural Building Colloquium in Oregon, in the mid 90s. Elke was traveling in Germany, where she’d come across a public art project in a park in Berlin. It was full of earthen sculptures made by a German artist named Rainer Warzecha. At the time, I was collecting stories and photos to expand a little pamphlet about earthen art projects (Dig Your Hands in the Dirt). But most of what I had were …
A yurt of sticks and mud
2011 has been a year of yurts, w/two opportunities to try out this simple design of sticks and mud — a more permanent adaptation of the traditional, portable, Mongolian design. One was for a friend and neighbor. The other was a workshop at Aprovecho Institute, as part of their sustainable shelter building series. Lots of people helped! Both were made with locally harvested bamboo and fir poles (arranged reciprocally to make a self-supporting, conical roof w/a central skylight, which I’m still trying to figure out how to cover cheaply…) Here’s a little picture book about the whole process.…
Open publication –
Two-tier yurt with Bill Coperthwaite
Here’s the lovely, two-tier yurt that Bill Coperthwaite helped us build in October of ’09.
It’s on the grounds of the Ancient Arts Center near Alsea, just a long leap over a couple of ridges, into the next drainage south of us (the Alsea River). We finished the woven willow and mud walls in May of ’09. If you want to come help, we’ll be having more workshops (see http://www.ancientartscenter.com for more info).
It took ten days with a crew of about 17 to get it framed. Nearly all the cross cuts we did with hand saws (most were compound …
