Root Cellar

We framed the roof of the root cellar today, and had an outstanding day building. The roof is made of oak and pine we bought from a beautiful country sawmill near Jordan Lake, NC.

The heavy frame will be supporting a 12" thick green roof that will be continous with the ground, it should turn out to be a charming little building and our best green roof yet!

Catskill Strawbale Workshop

Today I'm doing final preparation for our one-week cob building workshop in Durham. It starts tonight with a campfire at 6pm!

I'm happy to announce that I'm teaching another workshop this summer, a three day weekender focusing on strawbale construction. Hosted by my good old friend Paul Voightland on his beautiful land in Summit, NY, it's sure to be a fun and enriching weekend.

From August 10-12 we'll be doing strawbale infill, earth and lime plaster, and some carpentry/general building stuff on a cabin in the woods. On site camping and all meals are provided. Get in touch with Mike at mpmcdono@yahoo.com or (502) 381 5004 for more info and registration.

The Planet Roo Arbor

I'm just starting to go through photos from the build at Bonnaroo this year. We did a lot of great work and there will be plenty to post as I have the time.

Here are three shots of the arbor pyramid going up. The poles are great big sticks of tropical bamboo that we found in a barn going unused this year. The purlins and "thatch" are locally harvested Tennessee 'Roo 'boo.

Greg's blog

Here are two recent shots from builder Greg Allen's blog, Cob & On. Greg has been a frequent building partner of mine since we met at the Cob Cottage Company, and he does inspired work. His blog contains a wealth of detailed information on natural building, and covers a few years of work. Check it out.

Lime Bench

Lime plastered cob bench in the cottage we built in Chapel Hill this spring.

Bonnaroo 2012

I found this great photo today while working on plans for Bonnaroo 2012 - it's coming right up in June!  Here is a photo of last year's build showing Ben, Thomas, and Scott setting a big oak post.

Spring at the site

The little cob cottage is really coming together just in time for spring. Next up is the exterior plaster, check back soon!