Baling, baling, baling!

Straw-baling on a Sunday is a wonderful diversion from the tax-time data entry. On this gorgeous winter day, it was soul-food to get out and heft bales into the wall with my family. Dave was on the chainsaw, shaping bales around posts, while our oldest son, Josh and his devoted Tessa (med-student and part-time Grassroots wonder-shopgirl) learned the process of building. I am sure they were not just helping us for no reason - I suspect they have eco-building intentions.

The straw is wheat straw - sharp and coarse, much harder than the rice straw we used in "stage one" of our home. Small bales are getting harder to come by in this area. Most farmers are baling into the big 8'x4'x4' bales lifted only by a machine. The walls go up fast, with a 3m section taking 30-45 minutes to reach ceiling height.

The "mudding" will start soon, that is my earth-mother time. Being connected to my place by the earth is important to me. I feel very grounded by holding each and every handful of earth render as it passes from ground to mixer to bucket to wall. Each surface is sculpted with 3 coats of earth-lime render, taking half a day to cover that 3m section in one coat, on one side. Stay in touch for the mud.