Over the course of the summer we decided to do a rain screen over top of our stuccoed straw bale walls. It took us a little longer than we had hoped and it was more work than we anticipated but I think the results look fantastic!

It feels great to have the scaffolding put away for a while and I am hoping not to have to use it again for a good long while.

Projects for next year include a wood shed, more landscaping, a chicken coop perhaps, some raised garden beds closer to the house, cleaning up the shed and running power to it, planting lots more trees, cutting the 8 cord of firewood sitting in 8 foot lengths in the yard and maybe a deck!

(Cross-posted at green-spree.ca)

This past April I spent a week in the woods at MacPhail Woods taking a university course, Environmental Studies 209 – Ecological Forestry, learning about forest ecology, sustainable forestry practices, forest restoration and the Acadien Forests.

It was an amazing experiential learning course and everything we learned has stayed with me and I think it will stay with me and will be built on by my own experiences as I work in our family woodlots and observe nature throughout the seasons.  We learned about plant identification techniques, assessing forest health, ecological diversity, pruning and harvesting techniques and so much more.  We also got to take a piece of the woods at MacPhail’s and design a restoration plan and then actually implement it. Continue Reading →

So you want to build your own straw bale home.  You’ve seen them in green home building books and on TV shows, you saw green home builders wax poetic about their homes low impact on the environment and connection to the local ecology.  You’ve researched all the possible alternative home building techniques and the thought of conventional framing makes you shudder.  You are going to build a straw bale home no matter what obstacles the MAN and doubters have to say!  Well far be it for me to try and dissuade you!

There are some things you should know and experience first though.  This, in all likely-hood, is going to be one of the most challenging things you will ever take on.   Continue Reading →

So we are nearing the end of the longer than anticipated journey called house building! This past weekend we finished the primasil coat on the lime wash and last night I finished the priming of all the drywall except the kitchen ceiling which will go up after the plumbing and electrical work above the ceiling is done.

I though it would be appropriate to those trying to follow our progress to list what is left to do, it also helps me to visualize what needs to get done and break it into small easy to carry out chunks! Continue Reading →