We astonished our friends and family 7 years ago Labor Day weekend when we purchased 44 acres of Driftless Area ridge side that we had first walked only a week before. We wanted to settle on its south-facing slope and care for this bit of land Then we learned, as […]
Our bit of land is nestled into the eastern slope of a tiny bowl-shaped dip in the earth formed where two little valleys intersect, but it has a great big bowl of sky above it. Watching the night sky is easy forget in our hectic, well-lit world, but the perspective […]
The second weekend of our straw bale construction workshop (led by Mark Morgan of Bearpaw Design and Construction ), we got a chance to try earthen clay plastering on the interior walls of the building. The first weekend, we troweled concrete stucco on the outside of the straw bale walls. […]
This year’s harvest is in full swing, and it’s always a mixed bag of crops that surpass my wildest expectations and others that are a real bust. I’m hoping to improve my odds next year. I’ve decided to get the jump on New Year’s Resolutions and start planning for next […]
Gardening is a good idea. The more people garden the better things will get. These are the kinds of thoughts taking root as I wrap up my 6-month basic Master Gardener Volunteer training program. (see my post on master gardening ) I’ve been to all 12 3-hour classes, and left […]
If there is one lesson I’m learning as I explore straw bale construction, it’s that there is no one way to work with straw bale. This form of construction involves a lot of craft, and experience is very valuable, but it is a form that is being re-invented all over […]
Straw as a building material may seem sketchy the first time you think about it. But the more you learn, the more it makes sense. I am in the middle of a 6-day workshop adding the straw bale component led by straw bale building master and local legend Mark Morgan […]
Though I think that the expanses of turf that constitute most lawns have all the classy appeal of Astroturf, and are an generally an environmental travesty, there are some things to be said for this stuff: Prevents erosion Slows down runoff Filters water Is better than a non-permeable surface So, […]
The most e-mailed article in the NYT yesterday wasPaul Krugman’s “Who Cooked the Planet?” He calls 2010 the year in which all hope of action to limit climate change died, and notes that ironically the first half of this year has been the “hottest such stretch on record.” He blames […]
We thought finding windows for the barn would be a simple matter of a couple of trips to the ReStore. We did find the door from the barn into the greenhouse there – a lovely solid oak door with glass so old, it has gone rippley. But we were up […]
Digging in the Driftless 