Off to a Barn Raising

I've decided to build my house out of earthbags, for a variety of reasons which I will post about in-depth soon, but the reason I want to mention today is that there is a wealth of information and support on the Internet for this method. Here's just one example:

Downloadable earthbag manual: http://www.mkf.in/pdfs/earthbags-english.pdf

Through the vast and extremely helpful website, earthbagbuilding.com, I discovered that Green Desert Eco-Farm, near Canon City, Colorado, is having an earthbag "barn raising" this weekend, to build a shelter for their llamas. Since they're less than a four-hour drive from here, it was a no-brainer for me to participate in this. (It also works out nicely that this is my pre-birthday weekend and I get to take a little road trip.)

This is just one of many examples of how serendipitously things are happening around my decision to build a house.

Not only will I be able to get hands-on experience with this way, but also connect with others who are interested in earthbag building.  I've been emailing back and forth with Kerry, who owns Green Desert Eco-Farm with her husband, Richard, and she's a blogger too!  Check her out at One Little Farm.  I'm very excited to meet these folks. I'll be bringing my three-year-old, which works out nicely because they have kids that are two and four.  My 13-year-old son is also coming with me, as he will be one of my main building partners this summer.

Time to hit the road!