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. Read the rest of this entry »

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.   Read the rest of this entry »

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! Read the rest of this entry »

It’s been a long time coming with the next step in our house building but this weekend we finally tackled drywall! We got most of the second floor finished with the help of my Dad and friend Phil who brought along his drywall gun. It sure made a difference and was much easier to use than my cordless drill/driver.

The drywall going up is one of those magical stages in construction that totally changes the character of a house. Rooms get closed off and start to feel like the spaces they will become. The house gets easier to envision with life and people inside it and you feel a lot closer to being done finally!

We should be able to finish most of the drywall evenings this week except for a few areas where the electrician didn’t put boxes in yet. Read the rest of this entry »