Congratulations to Kevin! His name was picked as the April, 2013 free 7 day workshop winner. Though we have had several aviators attend our workshops, he will be the first Army pilot (that we know of at least!). We are delighted that he will be joining us at a workshop soon! World, meet Kevin:

Thank you much for the opportunity to attend your workshop.  I am a 24 year Army veteran and would be retired but for a break in service after Desert Storm.  My wife and I both went to Portland State University before I went back in the Army for the opportunity to fly helicopters.  We now have two daughters and are stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

It’s not everyday that people come together and build with each other. Not in these “modern times” at least; however, that is precisely what happened this last week outside of Little Rock, Arkansas. More than 40 people came together to learn, connect, have fun, and share in the experience of building a 5,300 SF Eco Solar Learning Center at the Ferncliff Camp and Conference Center. With a common goal in mind (to bale and plaster the Eco Solar Learning Center), the group put out an amazing effort to bale a space that will help teach both adults and children about living green, getting power from the sun, and the effects of our actions and inactions on the earth we all walk on together.

People from different walks of life and different countries came together to work side by side. What we received was far more than an education in straw bale construction. We connected with each other and gained friendships that span across borders to Mexico and across the seas to the UK. We learned about different religions from Prespatarian Christians to Buddhists.  We worked side by side with young adults volunteering their service through Americorps, as well as with retired men and women, architects, builders, and many other individuals: again, all inspired by a common goal.

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Ferncliff Camp is a special place. Located just a few miles outside of Little Rock, Arkansas, this beautiful 1,200 acre learning center has been a gathering place for youth and adults for decades. At the helm of this amazing mecca for sustainability, outreach work and 130 or so retreat groups per year is David Gill, a man deeply committed to caring for the Earth. His mission: for Ferncliff to be one of the greenest camps in the country. Ferncliff is the location for our April 8-14 workshop during which we will help them bale a 5,300 sq ft Eco Center. It’s an exciting project that is drawing people from all walks of life, including 10 AmeriCorps volunteers that are eager to learn about creating sustainable housing. David has noticed an increase in the youth’s desire to be the best land stewards that they can be and as such, he feels it’s vitally important that they new center reflect the value of sustainability.

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We were approached a few weeks ago by a writer for Organic Magazine in Taiwan looking for photos. The issue went to print and here are images of a couple pages from the article.

We recently came into contact with the wonderful, dynamic and hilarious Sabine, a piano teacher (and concert pianist!).  Born and raised in Germany, she and her husband both live in Australia now.  We were so taken by her enthusiasm and story that we asked if she would be willing to share her experience with building her dream straw bale house by writing diary entries for us to share with you.  We see her as an inspiration and example of one taking the plunge to live out a huge dream.  As she says, “I think if I can do it, an almost 50 year old woman with no building experience, everyone can”.  Here is her second entry…

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They say that necessity is the mother of invention, and in the case of Branislav Prvanovic, a Serbian innovator and businessman involved in the building trades, a gigantic straw bale building project turned out to be the mother load of necessities. Charged with the task of rendering 150,000 sqft of straw bale walls on his industrial complex, he knew he had to get innovative and quickly in order to get the job done. Here we enter the story of how a progressive couple, Branislav and Gorica (his wife), living in Serbia came to design and create what may become the new standard for mortar sprayers around the world.

Serbia is a very small country in the Balkan region of Europe that is on it’s way to joining the European Union. This is an exciting time for this tiny nation and Brainslav and Gorica are on the forefront of environmental progress in the building sector of their country. They are both passionate about building their industrial facilities as efficiently and cost effectively as possible. As such, in between 2007–2009, they brought together the best Serbian team of engineers and prepared for investing in the largest straw bale industrial facility in all of Europe (50,000sqft). The team chose straw bale technology because they love how sustainable, cost effective, healthy, and energy efficient it is. In the process they intend to prove that it doesn’t matter if you are dealing with residential, commercial, or industrial projects, straw bale technology can be a solution for each of those situations.

When presented with the mega task of rendering the 150,000sqft of wall surface, they had to devise a solution that would produce excellent quality, be cost effective, and be able to plaster much faster than anything else on the market. Branislav, being the innovator that he is, took to the drawing boards and began to conceptualize a mortar sprayer that would suit their needs. After many renditions, trials and errors, and modifications, they were able to fine tune the mortar sprayer to be a sleek, lightweight and highly-productive tool. At the time, they were calling this sprayer the “Revolutionar”, however, one day Gorica was looking at the sprayer and was struck by how it looked like a dragonfly. The sprayer has been called the DragOn PRO ever since.

The DragOn PRO mortar sprayer is a heavy duty pneumatic tool which delivers all kinds of plasters and rendering mortars to the walls surface quickly. One of the best details is the design ergonomics. It’s balanced well, so it’s possible to plaster for several hours without the strain that is typically associated with plastering work. Okay, it’s still hard work, don’t get me wrong, but it does take less physical strength to deliver the plaster to the wall than using a hawk and trowel. It’s also cool that the DragOn PRO can apply all density mixtures with fillers up to 6mm including mortar of all types, plasters, clay renders, papercrete, and micro concretes. It works in conjunction with a compressor test which generates the force to push the plaster through the sprayer and out of the nozzle. Make sure you have a big enough compressor so that it can keep up with the required air supply!

One of the qualities we love about the DragOn PRO mortar sprayer is that it has been designed to be super easy to learn to use (it takes just minutes and can be used by pretty much anyone). We always appreciate innovations that are geared not only towards professionals but also towards the do-it-yourselfer. It weighs less than a shovel when empty and is actually quite comfortable to use (especially when compared to the job of applying plaster by hand with a trowel all day!). It is pretty much indestructible so one can spray plaster with confidence. That said, if you don’t wash it after each use it will get heavier and heavier each time. I’ve seen that happen with other sprayers, and it makes the job more tiring and less efficient, so take the time to keep the tool clean.

It’s true that other mortar sprayers exist on the market today, however, Branislav and Gorica are confident that the DragOn PRO outperforms them all. They tout that their sprayer is significantly faster and more efficient than other sprayers because of the unique concept of their nozzle design and how it manages to spray the plaster. They have patented this solution in order to protect their innovation, so they obviously believe in it. The reception from buyers around Europe and the Southern Hemisphere has been tremendous. The cost is reasonable and pays itself off after several working days, making it an obvious fit for not only professionals but also for owner-builders with their projects. Branislav and Gorica are also very pleased with how well the sprayer applies plaster in vertical, horizontal, slanted, curved and very high walls. I think the strong pressure of the application really helps in those situations too.

The DragOn PRO can be purchased at either wholesale or retail. The retail cost is 279€ and there is always an additional 10% discount applied for anyone that is building with straw bales. They also offer a retail program if you have an interest in becoming a retailer. By the way, Straw Bale Innovations makes no financial gain from writing about the DragOn PRO sprayer. In fact, we are not retailers or otherwise associated with DragOn, we simply thought this was a great product created by an amazing couple trying to make a positive impact on how green construction is developing in the world and we wanted to share their story.

Plastering is no easy task. Anyone who has done it can attest to the intensity of the labor and the time that it takes to do a job well. The DragOn PRO is a solution for easing this process. So, we want to thank Branislav and Gorica for believing in the benefits of straw bale construction and for creating a product that will make the plastering of bale walls much more manageable for everyone! To visit their website, please go to www.dragongpb.com and to email Branislav with any questions, please write to sales@dragongpb.com.  To watch a video of the sprayer in action click here.

Jill Plumer and David Clark were married 10 years ago and soon after the joyous occasion, began dreaming up plans for the home in which they planned to spend the rest of their lives.  They decided on a beautiful timber framed house design and eight years ago, the construction process began.  David is a carpenter, and for those years, the couple tenderly built their home, even felling their own trees to create the timber, while living in a trailer on the property to be close to the build.  The home was nearly done and they planned on moving into it this fall.

Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other plans in store.  On April 27, 2011, the tornado sirens seemed to go all day long.  In Chattanooga, where Jill works as Human Resources Director for the YMCA, there were 5 warnings and staff spent much of the day shuttling members down to the tornado cellar.  Jill made the decision to stay on site for the night to help remaining, rather than drive the 45 miles home to their property.  Upon telling David this, he agreed whole heartedly, noting that it wasn’t worth the risky drive to make it back to their land.

Meanwhile in their trailer home, David lay down to sleep, unaware that life as he knew it was about to change.  To say that David’s survival is a miracle is an understatement.  In fact, no words can truly describe or explain what happened that night.  As a mega EF4 tornado barreled down on their property at 9:28pm, David found himself at the mercy of fate and the paper-thin walls of his trailer.  In no time, the roof and walls tore away around him, flying into the surrounding woods and landing as a tangled web of twisted debris.  In the end, the only remaining unharmed object was David.

The tornado passed and David found himself outside in the pitch black of this horrific night, cold and battered by the driving wind and rain that consumed the landscape.  During the tornado, David’s emergency flashlight had been tossed into oblivion, leaving him with nothing but the sporadic flashes of the lightning storm to light his way.  He was disoriented by the darkness as well as the devastation of his property.   He turned in circles, looking for the house they had spent the last eight years building.  To his disbelief, he finally realized that he couldn’t find it because it no longer existed.  The home lay in complete collapse.  The next day they would see that the tornado had been so powerful that it had flung the four principal trusses, each weighing 1.5 tons, up to 50’ from the structure’s original site.

Sadly, others weren’t so fortunate, and that night Jill and David lost not only their dream home but also friends, neighbors, and some of their alpacas.  Jill shares that she and David have been affected greatly by this sad turn of events.  Going through this experience has been a major turning point for both of them.  They are touched and moved by the outpouring of support they have received from people in their small community; people with nothing extra to spare, showing up at their property, chainsaws in hand asking, “How can we help?  Where do you want me to start?”  They are deeply grateful for how embraced they have felt and are not taking an ounce of this generosity and kindness for granted.  They are even more committed now to rebuild their dream home as soon as possible so that they can start giving back.  David and Jill have no intentions of moving away and plan to remain in this amazing community for a very long time.

Since the tornado, the couple has been moving from place to place, staying with friends while they figure out how to rebuild on their land.  Recently they stayed with an artist friend, Frances McDonald, in Chattanooga, who is the first person to have built a straw bale home in the area.  Jill and David were so taken by their experience of staying in the straw bale home that Jill says, “There’s no way I can build a conventional home after living in a straw bale for a week!”  They love the look and feel of straw bale construction and are amazed that during their stay, when it was so “beastly” hot outside, whenever they came into the bale home, it was like stepping into a “cool, dry cave.”  They’ve been bitten by the straw bale bug and recently contacted us about hosting a straw bale workshop to build the Applegate Residence on their beloved property, which we will do from September 22-28.

There remains a lot of clean up on their land, once heavily forested and now littered with fallen trees.  Friends and family are still coming in from out of town to help in the clean up process and slowly but surely, things are getting done.  Stories such as this remind us of the fragility of our lives here in this beautiful and sometimes harsh world, where have no control over the elements and can only rely upon the generosity of friends and neighbors in times of great need.  We wish Jill and David all the best and look forward to being a part of their rebuild.

To read a newspaper article that was written up shortly after the tornado about David and Jill’s experience, click here.  To find out more about the workshop to rebuild a home for them with the Applegate Residence, click here.

Frank and Lorraine are the charismatic and wonderfully entertaining hosts for the Culyer, NY September 12-18 workshop.  We spent some time on the phone and I was instantly captivated by their stories and enthusiasm.  They are a great reminder that when we decide to bring our dreams into reality, it is inspiring to the world around us and sometimes the world can’t help but join us in the process.

Frank, who goes by Frankie, began early in construction.  In fact, he claims that he began swinging a hammer straight out of the womb.  His father, a builder and a Spaniard, raised his son with a strong work ethic and for many years Frankie worked at his side after school.  That is until Frankie at the age of 12 began to appreciate the value of money, which he wasn’t making working for his dad.  Being the industrious person that he was even at that age, Frankie set his sights on getting a job, a real job and begged his mother for her permission to go hunting for one.

Frankie’s mother conceded with one strict stipulation; the job would need to be found within the city block in which they lived in Elisabeth, NJ.  The only business establishment within that area was an Italian restaurant.  So, with purpose, he walked to the restaurant, introduced himself to the owner and stated that he would like to work for him.  Dismissively, the owner told him that he was not hiring and that Frankie should come back in a month.  Each month Frankie appeared at the restaurant only to be told to return the following month.  On the third month and finally, the owner agreed to give him a job.

Frankie began as a stock boy. Several months passed in his routine until one evening the head chef didn’t show up.  The manager, somewhat desperate to not lose business that night, put young Frankie up for the job stating that if he did well, he would have the chef’s job.  The next day, Frankie, not yet 13, was the new head chef for the local Italian restaurant; the young chef’s natural talents emerged.

Lorraine and Frankie met 6 years ago and together they are living out another dream; to build their own home from the ground up.  It doesn’t surprise me one bit as Frankie is the kind of hands-on guys that needs to know his environment intimately.  They share that this house is their “baby” and that they want to know every nook and cranny in it.  So, rather than hiring someone to build it for them, Frankie has left his job and will be doing all of the work himself from the ground up.

Soon after declaring to his family that he was taking the next several months off to live out his dream, Lorraine’s son Ryan became inspired and did the same exact thing; leaving his job to go help his parents build their dream home.  Like wildfire this news spread amongst those closest to them and in no time at all, two Ryan’s closest friends decided to join in the quest as well and quit their own jobs and have dedicated the next several months to living on the beautiful, off-grid, 19 acre property to help build the straw bale home.  The young guys are “totally psyched” to be getting to do this and see it as the “opportunity of a lifetime”.  Frankie and Lorraine couldn’t be happier to have them joining the team.  Lorraine’s daughter Keri, and the ‘girlfriends’ won’t be swinging a hammer but will be a part of the experience behind the scenes.

They are all also super excited about their choice to build with straw bales.  To them it just makes sense.  They knew they wanted to build their 5 bedroom off-grid home/B&B using green technology and the more they found out about straw bale, the more they became convinced that this was the solution for their wants of an environmentally friendly, cost effective, healthy and beautiful home space.

When I asked them what their friends and family have to say about them all going up and building this straw bale home on their own, they roared with laughter saying that everyone thinks they are “crazy”…but in a good kind of way.  They have everyone’s support and people are extremely curious to see how it all goes for them.  And as for Lorraine’s fathers view on the endeavor?  Frankie and Lorraine have earned a new level of respect from him.  Asked what he thinks about the build, father says, “You guys have got backbone!”  And I would ad, a whole lot of heart, humor, and passion…a recipe for success!

Mary, the host for the July 7-13 Castlegar, BC workshop is a woman on a radically needed mission: To help humanity transition from life to death with dignity and peace.  The building of her 3 bedroom straw bale home is the merger of a 15 year dream of building with bales and a 40 year career of caring for people and their health.  More recently she has moved from supporting people with developmental disabilities to focusing her passion for caring on people who are transitioning from life to death.

Mary was touched and changed after she watched a client of hers, an older man in the final stages of cancer, reluctantly move from the rural setting that he loved and had raised his family, to spend his last living days in hospital because support  was not available to allow him to die in the comfort of his home. For him, these new surroundings caused fear and stress and his final moments were spent alone  She’s quick to add that it’s not that people don’t receive good care in hospitals, but the reality is that the staff are busy and have many patients to tend to.  Our medical system just isn’t designed to give one on one care in a hospital setting.  Mary has a deep belief that no one should have to die alone so it is her heartfelt desire that “Swallowtail Ridge” will fill the gap in service to palliative care patients in her area. (Note: The butterfly is used as a symbol by many hospice societies worldwide. It represents the transition between life and death. The caterpillar forms its cocoon and prepares to leave life as he knows it, to become a lovely butterfly!)

Mary’s vision for her home hospice is beautiful.  She shares that the site itself is breathtaking and has a magnificent view.  She has designed a sunroom into her plans so that her clients can spend time overlooking the vista while basking in the warmth of the sun. Each bedroom will be a “room with a view” that will allow its occupants to experience serenity through the sights and sounds of nature.  She will build an organic vegetable garden and from those harvests create healthy, nutritionally rich foods for her guests. Free range chickens will also occupy the land to provide fresh eggs. Mary enjoys grinding her own fresh cereal and flour from organic grains to make porridge, muffins and bread. She values food as medicine and loves to nurture people by providing healthy meals prepared with love.

Mary is not afraid to speak about death.  In fact, she shares that it is so important that we as a culture learn to be more comfortable with communicating about it.  She draws an analogy that when a new mother becomes pregnant, she usually starts to prepare herself by reading books, networking with others, eating well, learning breathing techniques, etc. in anticipation of the amazing beginning of life transition that is about to happen.  If we could take that same kind of focus and interest with the end of life transition, we would be so much better able to support others in their process as well as develop our own inner peace with regards to passing from this life.

Straw bale construction feels like a perfect fit for Mary because straw bale homes create soothing environments.  She appreciates how the walls, with their natural plaster finishes, “breathe” to enhance air quality.  Since there are no sharp corners, “chi” flows easily through the home, instilling positive energy and sense of peaceful harmony throughout. She plans on incorporating earthen floors, clay plaster wall finishes….and, of course, a large outdoor earthen clay oven!

Mary acts as her own General Contractor. She planned the home design and oversees every stage of the build; however, due to time constraints with the development of her home care business, she leaves most of the actual construction work to her two gifted carpenters, one of whom is her son-in-law.

Through it all though, Mary senses that her vision for this build is Divinely inspired and she feels incredibly blessed and guided.  The local community is also elated in hearing that this center is going to be opening up.  Mary will be filling a very important need in this community.  Being a part of this build will be so much more than just learning how to construct a straw bale home.  Being a part of this build will also mean making an incredibly important contribution to Mary’s dream for her local palliative care community.

Although this workshop is technically full, Mary has decided to extend attendance to 30 people.   There are still a few slots left open so if you’d like to sign up, you are welcome to.  We hope to see you there!

Dylana and Ron are the hosts for the Ashland, OR, August 15-21 workshop.  Hosting this workshop represents a lifelong goal of Dylana’s, an Ashland native, who has dreamed of building a straw bale home since she was just a 15 year old teenager.  She grew up in the beautiful mountains that surround Ashland and for her, a love of nature, conservation, and sustainable living is ingrained into her core.  Now a wife and mother of two, the family has embarked on bringing to life the dream of building a beautiful, energy efficient and sustainable straw bale home.

This home build is a labor of love for Ron and Dylana and they have chosen to self-build it, with a little help from friends along the way.  They share that it is important to them to have their hands on every part of the process, making the relationship with the home much more personal and intimate.  This is a common theme for straw bale home owners and I so admire the willingness of owner-builders to get their hands dirty and take the risk of building themselves in order to have the deep connection with their new house.  I believe that this desire to build one’s own shelter is deeply rooted into our DNA and when we reconnect with that process, we are fulfilled in ways that we are rarely given the opportunity to do anymore in this day and age.

Ron is a firefighter for the downtown Ashland station (don’t you love that the firefighter is building a straw bale home?!) and Dylana is currently finishing up her first year in the Masters of Art and Teaching program at Southern Oregon University.  We have had the rare chance to spend time with them since they live locally and I will be so bold as to say that anyone who attends this workshop is in for a real treat.  I know they will be attentive, entertaining, and amazing hosts.  Plus, Dylana bakes absolutely outrageous chocolate chip cookies.  We have been up to their site and the camping on the property has unprecedented views of mountain peaks.  They also live quite close to some beautiful lakes as well as all that Ashland has to offer.  We hope that anyone that attends gives themselves at least an extra day to soak in the area.

Dylana has always been interested in straw bale construction because of the energy efficiency the walls create, the amazingly deep window sills, and the organic and beautiful forms you can create within the space.  The home is large at 2,400 sq.ft. (4bed/3bath) and is being built with a modified post and beam system with rice straw infill.  This project is a great opportunity for anyone that really wants to see a full sized home come together with the baling process.  One will have the opportunity to learn hands on how to install toe-ups, bale various wall scenarios and angles, install the electrical wires as well as how to deal with the plumbing systems to keep bale walls safe and dry always.  Also covered will be how to install the mesh system for the structural bracing and plaster backing and finally how to mix and apply the first coat of plaster.  Many of the materials that are being used in the build are relics from their past and the home will be full of stories from past experiences and places.

Ron and Dylana are really looking forward to hosting the August workshop and to getting to meet everyone.  They also are extremely happy to be creating a natural and safe home in which to raise their family.  We hope you will join us in this workshop!

Gabriella here…I am pleased to post that all of the 200 sq.ft. cottages that we built over the years when we lived out on my mother’s land have been completed and they look amazing!  These cabins were built largely during the several workshops we help up on the land so some of you may recognize them from that.  My mother, Margareta, has finished them up completely and configured the 90 acre property to be a retreat center.  I have to say that it looks beautiful and having the straw bale cabins on the property ads perfectly to the feel of a calm and peaceful healing space.  Anyone can rent the cabins for $45 each per night which also gives one access to the bathing straw bale cabin (full bathroom plus a beautiful straw bale sauna!), access to thousands of acres of hiking, ponds, and is just 15 minutes from historic Jacksonville.  There is also a large retreat space (about 1,500 sq.ft.) that can be rented if you want to host your own workshop on the property. If you’ve ever been curious about how it feels to sleep in a straw bale cabin, this is a great opportunity!

For more info visit www.ramsayrealty.com, click on vacation rentals

If so, and you would like to be photographed in your home and interviewed, please let me know. I was recently contacted by a woman working on an ad for Northwest Credit Union who wants to feature a SMALL straw bale home and the owners for the ad. She would pay $500 as well!

This could be a great thing for Straw Bale in the Northwest.

She needs to interview/photograph you THIS SUNDAY (April 24th) so please contact me right away or contact her directly at ariana@arianaharley.com. Her name is Ariana. Please tell her that you heard about this through me (Andrew) at strawbale.com so she knows where you are coming from. Have fun!!!