STRAW BALE BUILDING WORKSHOP

Upcoming Dates: TBD

Cost: $300 for this 3-day Workshop. (Mail in payment by TBD for a $50 discount.)  Discounted Prices can also be earned by soliciting donations for building materials or food for the workshop PLUS working weekends prior to the workshop, doing foundation and other prep work.

Meals: Includes breakfast & supper on the work days.

Length of Time:  Hoping everyone will arrive on Friday night so we can jump right into the workshop at 8am Saturday morning. This is over the Labor Day weekend, so continues both Sunday and Monday.

Class Description

We will learn to construct a beautiful, natural, earth friendly, energy efficient building!  Foundation, walls, windows, framing, and roof construction will be taught. We will be teaching the Nebraska Style of Straw Bale building, which is also termed "Load-bearing".  Natural plasters will also be covered for the interior while the exterior will be Stuccoed.  Sheet Rock Wall Interface will also be demonstrated.

Instructors
Robin Foote, owner of Whitehawk Construction Co, will be heading up this Straw Bale Building Workshop. He is an expert on ferro-cement and thin shell cement systems. He is a master carpenter and master painter, and he has built many earth sheltered homes. A Green Builder, he is also a solar energy expert and has experimented with wind generation systems.

Mark Blessing will be the workshop consultant. Mark has built four Straw Bale buildings and worked on numerous others. His background is in engineering, with a passion for alternative methods. He loves to build things. Mark has built both Post & Beam and Load-Bearing (Nebraska-Style) Straw Bale structures. He enjoys putting an artistic finish into a building, using the versatility of Stucco.  Mark has also designed alternative energy systems, using solar and wind to power off-the-grid homesteads.

April Holtzman, director of Camp Tonkawa, will be assisting.  She learned Straw Bale construction in 2004, when the camp built their first Straw Bale Structure with the folks from  "Earth Knack" Stone Age Living Skills, in Colorado. Many of the campers have been fascinated by the method and the end product that stands proudly in the woods on the property.

Randy Scism, Owner of Craiggs County Repair, will be assisting.  He has worked on the inishing aspects of Camp Tonkawa's Straw Bale structure; flooring, final stucco coating, roof adjustments, and maintenance.  He is a master carpenter, heating and air specialist, general handy man, and problem solver.

Details

Vegetarian Fare Available - just let us know your diet and we will do our best to work with it. Bring your own lunch food!  We will have wash stations to clean up your own plate, bowl, mug, eating utensils after meals.

Bring your own camping gear, sleeping bag, tent, personals, etc. Optional items: chair, flashlight, insect repellent. We have outdoor showers and a swim pond.

Families & groups welcome. We need plenty of helping hands to complete the structure within the timeframe of this workshop.

NOTE : All classes have a minimum number of registrants to make or sorry to say it will be cancelled. So bring your friends and tell everyone you know.

Large Family Rates are available; please call April at 940-440-8382 for details