There is a house on the West Shore that has magic to it.
Several years ago I ran across an article on-line about Straw Bale (or Cob) construction for homes. Recently I have been delighted to see that these types of homes have gained quite a bit of popula…
We arranged and rearranged our straw bales. Once we got them in the configuration we wanted, we began conditioning. We followed the organic guide for conditioning in Joel Karsten’s book, R…
A "modern" Straw Bale home just outside of Sacramento, California. http://images01.olx.com/ui/16/38/56/1318691036_106683256_1-Pictures-of--Lovely-custom-straw-bale-home-Euro-Gourmet-style-24-acres.jpg Building a house out of straw may seem, at first, like a foolish idea. However, over the past couple of decades, there has been a steady increase in Straw Bale homes being built, and with it has come better research showing the wisdom of this ancient building material. I am not going to get into the details of construction today. I just want to show the beauty of these energy efficient homes. A modern Straw Bale home under construction. http://www.nachi.org/images10-2/windows-in-straw-bale.jpg http://www.buildingwithawareness.com/pictures%202008/straw-bale-home-hybrid-house-glow.jpg http://www.syncronos.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/straw-bale-house-and-green-building-picture.jpg A modern Staw Bale home with Passive Solar and Solar Photovoltaic design. http://www.buildingwithawareness.com/pictures%202008/entry%20straw%20bale%20house.jpg A Straw Bale "Farmhouse". http://www.syncronos.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/straw-bale-house-and-green-building-picture.jpg Unusual Straw Bale home at the Lama Foundation in Taos, New Mexico http://leicesterexchanges.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/lama-foundation-21.jpg A small, Straw Bale, second "home" in a Berkeley, California backyard. http://blog.whatsnexthomes.com/2011/07/23/live-like-one-of-the-three-little-pigs.aspx A Straw Bale mountain home. http://www.naturalhomeandgarden.com/uploadedImages/articles/daily/2008/2/EarthFlowDesignWorks-straw-bale-house.jpg Very unique Straw Bale home in Pembrokshire, UK http://www.thedailygreen.com/green-homes/latest/straw-homes-461209 A Straw Bale home in Argentina. http://naturalbuild.wordpress.com/2010/08/05/el-trebol-del-monte-yacanto-cordoba-argentina/ A Straw Bale home with Passive Solar design in New Zealand. http://www.builditgreen.co.za/Portals/0/Images/straw%20bale%20house%20finished.jpg The first Straw Bale home in New Zealand. http://www.ecobob.co.nz/EcoProperty/PropertyPhotoTour.aspx?propertyId=1265&imageIndex=4 Exterior and Interior of Straw Bale home in Oakland, California. http://www.thedailygreen.com/cm/thedailygreen/images/1-oakland-straw-home2.jpg Interior of Staw Bale homes can be beautiful! http://images.morris.com/images/cjonline/mdControlled/cms/2007/12/29/229851509.jpg The interior of the Straw Bale home shown at the very top of this article. http://images01.olx.com/ui/16/38/56/1318691036_106683256_1-Pictures-of--Lovely-custom-straw-bale-home-Euro-Gourmet-style-24-acres.jpg Unique floor and ceiling details in the Straw Bale home. http://www.spiritofmaat.com/archive/apr2_strawbal3.jpg This couple built their Straw Bale home... one thing I love about these structures. http://www.designforward.net/news_diary.jpg Fine finished interior of a Straw Bale home. http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1244/921390003_d42bd63944.jpg Non-conventional is a huge selling point with Straw Bale homes... http://0.tqn.com/d/create/1/0/3/X/1/-/IMG-1549.jpg ...but many Straw Bale builders choose more traditional designs. http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1342/922243328_3122ad066a.jpg Deep inset windows are typical with Straw Bale homes. http://farm1.static.flickr.com/79/266169446_af3e9e112d.jpg Exquisite interior of a Straw Bale home in San Luis Obispo, California http://www.thedailygreen.com/green-homes/latest/straw-homes-461209
Check out this fun DIY Lung Model Activity for Kids: Step-by-Step Guide to Making a Fun Learning Experience.
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Kitchen scraps are always a winner, but you may wonder, "can I compost straw?" Read on to learn about adding straw to your compost pile.
With all the charm of a quaint country cottage, this straw bale house is a model of environmentally sensitive building for the future
Leeds Farm in Ostrander, Ohio is the ultimate Pumpkin Farm experience! With awesome activities for all ages, your family will enjoy a day out at Leeds Farm!
The transition from hardwood floors to straw bale wall can be difficult. Be sure to read how to deal with hardwood floors in a straw bale house.
Dell Book 7886 (1970) Gordon M. Williams Cover artist unknown This is the source material for the film Straw Dogs.
This four-bedroom dwelling is sustainable and stunning.
…your roots are showing You’ll be so rad in this straw farm-to-head show stopper. Make a radishing entrance and root around your party, greeting guests with a silver tray of crudité. For the hostess whose bite is much worse than her bark. Handmade by Tel Aviv milliner Maor Zabar exclusively for Houses & Parties. One size fits most.Part of the “For The Whole Market” collection.All hats and headbands are final sale.
Completed in 2010 in Hereford, United Kingdom. Images by John Hewitt. This project comprises an extended 100 seat cafe, refurbished kitchen and cafe terrace. It is conceived as a learning aid in low-impact environmental...
Today we have a great article by a wonderful friend of mine, Melana MacLeod. For anyone who has wanted to know how to or is curious about straw bale gardening then you will love this post! Enjoy! Straw Bale Gardening by Melana MacLeod Straw Bale Gardening...Part 1 I had been asked to blog about Straw Bale Gardening. Can you say "easier than dirt"? In fact, you do NOT plant in the ground....you plant in bales of Straw. It's easy, you can garden anywhere and in any climate. It's also great for those that are not physically able to "garden" in the traditional sense of the word. No bending, no hoeing, no weeding! And, if you grow in Straw Bales you can get your things in and growing several weeks sooner than planting in dirt which lengthens your growing season. Here are the basics with some pictures from last years Straw Bale garden. 1. The bales must be STRAW, not HAY. While it may not appear to be that much different it IS. Straw has almost all of the "grain" removed while hay is filled with seeds from weeds, grains and grasses. Think about it, if your watering a bale filled with seed what's gonna happen? Yup, you'll have a beautifully green, lush bale filled with weeds! Straw still contains a few pieces of grain here and there but you don't even need to pull them if you don't want to...they die off quickly. 2. There is a "right" way and a "wrong" way to set your bales down. Straw is banded with either nylon twine, coarse twine or wire. You do not want to lay your bales down with the twine on top...it should be on the sides of the bale. And which end you set it on also matters! One end of the bale will have the straw that looks smooth and bent over the other end will look....well...like STRAWS. It will be cut and you'll see down into the straw pieces. This allows more water to get down into the bale vs. running off. 3. Location, make sure your bales will receive at LEAST 6 hours of bright sunlight a day. This is especially important for tomatoes. So, choose wisely and know that once you start to condition your bales they will become super heavy because of the watering...and you do not want to try and move them then. Believe me, they weigh a ton! 4. Rows....straw bales should be set in rows running lengthwise north and south. This helps a great deal to make sure your bales are getting equal sunlight and not blocked light. It's important for all your crops to receive FULL and direct sunshine. 5. Keeping weeds down....I save cardboard from boxes etc and put the cardboard down on the ground and then place my bales on top of it. While it looks a bit "messy" at first once you start conditioning your bales the cardboard that is hanging out from under your bales will just pull up and you can either toss it in the compost pile or use it for something else. I try very hard not to use cardboard that has ink writing on it, especially colored ink. You can put your bales anywhere. There is no need to dig up grass or bring in dirt. Just plunk those bales down anywhere! You can put them on a driveway, patio or out in the middle of your yard! I do not, however, suggest you put them on a wood deck as it will stain/rot the wood eventually. To recap.....here are the basics: ~Choose your location ~Plants should have a minimum of 6 hours of sunlight daily ~Be sure you have STRAW NOT HAY ~Put down cardboard or newspaper to prevent weeds from growing through your bale ~Set your bale rows to run in a North to South direction, end to end. ~Make sure you have your bales facing up the right way with the cut straw end UP You can find straw bales from farmers in your area, livestock feed stores and some hardware stores. Google it for your area if you don't know where to go or let me know and I can try and find a location for you to purchase your bales. Sometimes even the big box hardware stores carry straw bales for landscaping purposes. You are now ready to start conditioning your Straw Bales! That will come in "Straw Bale Gardening...Conditioning your bales". Part 2 In the pictures below you can see the "end to end" North/South orientation of the bales. You can also take note of the cardboard under the bales. Notice the nylon twine as it goes AROUND the bales and the cut/straw end facing UP. Straw Bale Gardening - Conditioning Your Bales - Part 2 Conditioning your Straw Bales is easy. It takes about 12-14 days to do so but really only takes 15 minutes or so each day during that time. "Conditioning" the bales means you are composting internally to the point where the inside of those bales will support root growth. There are tiny microbes inside the bales and you are "feeding" them with fertilizer which steps up the conditioning process. You are instantly composting your bales to be simple about it. If you want to plant by the middle of May you will need to start conditioning your bales about 2 weeks before that. Find the average "last frost" date for your area and go back 2 weeks...this is a great time to condition those bales! What do I need to condition my bales? Water and fertilizer....that's it. Your fertilizer should have a nitrogen content 20% or more higher than the Phosphorous and Potassium. Look at a bag of fertilizer...you'll see 3 numbers like 20-0-4. The first is always Nitrogen, second is Phosphorous and the third Potassium. In some areas, if you in or close to a farming community, you can get pure Nitrogen fertilizer that is 30-0-0 or higher! Your fertilizer must NOT be a "time released" fertilizer or contain a "pre-emergent". A pre-emergent is nothing more than a weed killer. So, if your using that to condition your bales it will kill off your transplants and seedlings! You can use just a plain lawn fertilizer. The process of "conditioning": Day 1 - Spread 1/2 cup (4 oz) of fertilizer over the entire top surface of each bale. Use a hose with a strong stream of water or a hose with sprayer end to push the fertilizer down into the bale. You'll know your done when you can no longer see the fertilizer. SOAK that bale, your doing it correctly when the water is exiting the bottom of the bale. Day 2 - All you need to do today is water the bales. Make sure they are completely saturated. Day 3 - Sprinkle another 1/2 cup of fertilizer on each bale top and water. Day 4 - Today is a just water day once again! Day 5 - Sprinkle another 1/2 cup of fertilizer and water completely. Day 6 - You might be able to start smelling an "odor" of decomposition in your bales...that's GOOD, if not try using a bucket of warmish water over the bales to water today. Day's 7, 8 and 9 . Apply only 1/4 cup of fertilizer to each bale and water till running through the bottom. Use warm water if you can, if you cannot that's fine too! Day 10 - Apply one cup per bale of a "balanced" 10-10-10 general garden fertilizer. The job today is to get some Phosphorus and Potassium into the bales and get it into the root zone area of the bale. Again, no weed killer, pre-emergent, crab grass killer etc. should be in the fertilizer. Day 11 - Water completely today....cool water is fine. Days 12, 13, 14 - What you have created is a rich, nutrient packed area deep within your bales that is slightly composted organic material. You can even tell that it is MUCH warmer then the air or soil temperatures....it's "cooking", it's filled with worms and good bacteria and disease free! You have essentially created a mini "greenhouse" inside your bales. Seedlings and transplants will thrive in the warm bales early in the season and your seeds will germinate quickly! On these days you do nothing but stand back and appreciate all you have accomplished! Your bales are ready to plant....but ONLY if the internal temperature of your bales have dropped to 85-90 degrees.....NOW you are ready to plant! ** Just a couple notes here. Your going to freak out when you see mushrooms sprouting and covering your bales. But, this is a GREAT thing! It means your bales have composted to the point that they are a perfect medium for growth. Congratulate yourself "you done good"!! You can make yourself crazy by pulling them out OR leave them, they will die off and just provide more compost material for your plants! Watch for "Straw Bale Gardening....Getting Ready To Plant! ~ Part 3 Thank you Melana for this wonderful, informed article! I don't know about the rest of you but I can't wait to try this form of gardening. Look for the final segments of Straw Bale Gardening to be posted in a couple of days :)
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I'd like to think that if this wedding were an inanimate object, it would be a beautiful handmade quilt. It's full of vibrant color, adorable horsies, and such great DIY details, that I just want to w...
Image 1 of 19 from gallery of SCL Straw-Bale House / Jimmi Pianezzola Architetto. Photograph by Alberto Sinigaglia
