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Want to be part of a once a year opportunity? I have several buildings from this year’s straw bale workshops that are in different stages of plastering. This is the perfect way to learn how to plaster with lime because it is necessary to wait a minimum of 10 days in between plaster coats. With my situation, we can do all three coats of plaster on three different buildings over only three days, no need to wait in between coats! Read on for course details.
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I am sitting in the Binghamton airport in New York, getting ready to return from a week long baling workshop. We had an amazingly successful training and managed to complete a roughly 850 square foot building from the toe up installation to the first coat (scratch coat) of plaster inside and out! Not to mention the vaulted ceiling and full gable end…Wow! We had over 20 very motivated folks and they accomplished much more than I imagined possible in the week. Just goes to show what a group of dedicated and excited people can accomplish. I hope this email finds you all well and motivates you one step closer to your dreams of building a straw bale house.

Thanks to all the folks who made the workshop a success, from the host to the participants to the maintenance guy currently working on fixing the broken plane that is supposed to fly me home tonight!

We are five weeks away from the seven day intensive straw bale workshop in Bainbridge, New York and there has been such a large show of interest that I have opened up 5 additional spots in the workshop.
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The June seven day intensive straw bale workshop has come to a successful end. We had a great time together and built a wonderful structure that will become a play room for my kids (bonus of being a baler’s son!). Once again, friends were made and a good time was had, albeit with me cracking the whip in the background! I will take the month of July “off” and will be back at it in August with another seven day workshop in Jacksonville. I still have room for you if you want to learn and have fun with us.

(PICTURES TO COME)…..

Hi Everyone! Check This Out:

For those of you who did not know, I am happy to announce the third Seven Day Intensive Straw Bale Workshop of the year. We completed the first two workshops in April and May with great success. If you are interested in attending the workshop, please sign up at www.StrawBaleWorkshops.com. The dates for this workshop are June 16-22. We will build a beautiful bale structure and will also eat, play and celebrate the summer solstice (one way or another). Below are some comments from previous workshop participants to give you an idea of the impact this work has had on them.

The class was not only informative but you gave out a personal energy that I still feel today. You help me believe that anything is possible as long as I believe and with a little sweat. Thank you for all that you have given to me.

Roy T. Fort Meyers, FL
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It was with tears and smiles that the May workshop finally came to an end on Sunday. We had a great group of people and new friendships were formed that I expect will last a long time. With participants from as far away as Argentina and New Zealand and as close as the next town over, we built, laughed, connected and finally said our goodbyes.
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At the end of the fifth day of the May Seven Day Intensive Straw Bale Construction Workshop, a few folks mentioned how much they were looking forward to applying the brown coat because it would be so much easier than the scratch coat applied to the interior of the building. I smiled and so “oh yeah?…okay.” By the end of yesterday, their opinion had changed.
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The fifth day of the May workshop started and ended in mud. The good news is that it was mud we were making and using to plaster our beautiful straw bale structure. We are working with lime plaster and as a result, we had a lot of dust masks around.
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Today was a great day. We accomplished a bunch of stuff on the site, the weather was great, and spirits were high. We had several lectures on site that allowed us to slow down and learn to a pace that we could then accelerate into the work.
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Our third day was not as productive as I had hoped it would be. We had some rain the previous night and the cold air of the day seemed to tax all of our efforts to move forward. That said, we got all the walls straightened and weedwhacked to a point where we could address the next steps of the job.
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We were so close! We almost got the whole building baled today. There was a lot to learn including the Miller’s knot, how to notch bales, how to stack and stuff walls, and how to keep things as straight as possible. With a lot of hands working hard, we managed to get really close to completing the baling in day two, but we ended up one course short for the majority of the building.
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Yesterday was the first day of the May Seven Day Intensive Straw Bale Construction Workshop here in Jacksonville. We have a great group of people here and we are well on our way to completing another wonderful bale building. Over the next seven days, i will be posting comments and images from the workshop to show you a general thread of how the workshops proceed in hopes that some of you will be inspired to take the next step in learning about this amazing building procedure. Here’s a summary of what we got done on the first day:
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Several individuals have moved their participation date from May to later workshops. As a result, I have several spots available in the May Seven Day Intensive Straw Bale Workshop. The dates for the workshop are May 5 - 11. Obviously that is coming right up. If you are wondering whether this workshop is for you, please read on to hear what some of the April participants said about their experience. If you know you are ready to sign up, please visit www.StrawBaleWorkshops.com to grab one of the last spots for May.

The April workshop was a huge success. I was amazed at how far along we got with the building and how much the participants were able to learn and employ. Even with two completely unexpected days of snowfall, we were able to fully bale, shape, and plaster (exterior scratch coat) the entire building. It looks fantastic and I am seriously impressed with the ability of the participants to execute what they learned.

I am happy to hear that my impression of the workshop was also held by those who attended. I have gotten lots of positive feedback, some of which I have shared with you here. Perhaps the greatest thing about learning hands on is the ability to ask questions as the project moves forward. Not just questions about what is being done on the workshop, but how those new skills and techniques would influence someone’s home design or construction. I was able to answer questions specific to each participant’s situation and plan for construction. Everything from how to run a job site, to which type of plaster is the best option for an individual’s climate and use.

Check out what some of the participants had to say:

“Thank you for offering this one-of-a-kind learning experience, it was truly worth our while to take the time for the workshop. There is no doubt we are now more confident to take on much of the straw bale building process ourselves and potentially save money in labor and costly mistakes with the knowledge we gained.”

Thank you,
Skip & Jenna F., Colorado
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I am happy to announce that although the April workshop is completely full, there is still room in the May seven day intensive straw bale construction workshop here in Jacksonville, Oregon. The concrete guys are coming today to pour the foundation for the April workshop and then I will be busy framing and getting ready for the 20 folks arriving in a couple weeks.

The May workshop is scheduled for May 5 - 11 and will be a great opportunity for you to get your hands dirty in straw bale construction.

The May workshop is filling up quickly, so don’t hesitate if you want to be involved. To give you an idea, the April workshop filled up quickly and the last six spots all went away in one day as people jumped off the fence. If you want to learn about building with bales, it’s time to visit www.StrawBaleWorkshops.com/Registration and sign up today. I hope to see you soon!

Just a quick announcement to let you know I have added several dates for my 7 day intensive straw bale workshops during the summer months. Please visit www.StrawBaleWorkshops.com for more information or to sign up. I have one workshop scheduled for each summer month (June, July, and August) as well as dates in April, May, and September!

The 7 day intensive straw bale construction workshop originally scheduled for Bend, Oregon will now be held on my property in Jacksonville, Oregon. I hope to include a tour of straw bale homes in the workshop schedule. This should give participants the opportunity to see different styles of completed homes and perhaps inspire them to build to their best!

To sign up for the workshop, please visit www.StrawBakeWorkshops.com/Registration. We we still work hands on to build a straw bale structure and will have lots of time for questions and answers.
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Wow…that is sneaking up on me! There are only 10 weeks left until we start the April Straw Bale Workshop in Bend, Oregon. I just spoke with the host and he and his wife are very excited to get it going. So am I. There is still room in the workshop, but I can’t say how long that will last. The host said he is going to start advertising locally and inspiring friends to sign up. You can sign up at www.strawbaleworkshops.com/Registration.html We will be working on a small post and beam structure so anyone interested in building this style house would benefit from the workshop.
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I am happy to announce a new workshop date for the 2008 season. I will be holding a seven day intensive straw bale workshop September 1 - September 7, 2008 at the beautiful Berry Hill Gardens country Bed and Breakfast. Here’s a little description of the property from their website (www.BerryHillGardens.com).

Off the beaten path on a secluded lane, conveniently centered between Bainbridge, Afton and Oxford, our country bed and breakfasts are located in the heart of Central New York. The breathtaking Leatherstocking Region is an area bursting with museums, sporting facilities, artisans and fascinating history.

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I am excited to announce the launch of www.StrawBaleWorkshops.com. This new site will list the information for all of the workshops I will be leading in 2008. As it stands now, I have three workshops scheduled for Southern Oregon. The dates are April 14-20, May 5-11, and September 15-21. In addition, I have a tentatively scheduled, special 2 week workshop in Armenia starting July 21, 2008.
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The Jackson County Home Show will be held at the Jackson County Expo Center in Central Point, Oregon this September 21-23. On Saturday, September 22 at 1:30 pm, there will be talk about straw bale construction by a local engineer Nabil Taha of Precision Structural Engineering, Inc. and Designer, Chris Keefe of Organicforms Design. I have done this talk with them on two previous occasions and it is a good introduction into straw bale construction. It is also an opportunity to ask those nagging questions you may have about design and engineering as it relates to straw bale construction. I will not be attending this talk this time around as I will be in LA.