Month of Mud

Month of Mud

Thanks to the amazing generosity of both our crowdfunding backers, and a small army of volunteers, we have made great progress with our classroom space over the winter, and now we are on the home stretch, with the aim of completing it this summer. The majority of the...
The rock

The rock

  Looking out at the wonderful sunny, still day, it is easy to forget what the weather can bring. Last night for instance, as I lay in bed, the wind got up, and I realised I could hear flapping plastic. Above me. Which is where flapping plastic ought not to be....
‘Proper’ plastering

‘Proper’ plastering

  We were visited by Lauren and Phil this week, who were very modest about their earth plastering knowledge but turned out to have considerably more experience than we do. They rustled up some plaster test patches on a couple of spare bales, and we (well Phil)...
Earth plaster update

Earth plaster update

  Stage one of our earth plastering is now complete,and all the bales have a coat of clay slip. Some of the holes have been filled with clay slip mixed with a generous amount of finely chopped straw, and it is looking a little less undulating around the edges...

Strawbale rendering part 1..

Yesterday we began the process of rendering the strawbale walls by applying a coat of clay slip (just a runny clay and water mix) to the surface of the bales. Messy work, as transferring it from bucket to wall involves about half ending up on the floor, but it will...
Straw at last

Straw at last

  Now that the floor is fixed down, we’ve been able to get on and get the strawbales in. First, wooden spikes made of willow are driven into holes in the floor – Then the first layer of bales is placed onto the spikes which prevent them from moving...