Here's the lovely, two-tier yurt that Bill Coperthwaite helped us build in October of '09. (And here are my followup explorations that adapted the design by going back to traditional sticks and basket as well as incorporating earthen plasters -- simpler to build, and better performance and comfort in wetter climates.) It's on the grounds of the Ancient Arts Center near Alsea, just a long leap over a couple of ridges, into the next drainage south of us (the Alsea River). We finished the woven willow and mud walls in May of '09. If you want to come help, we'll be having more workshops . . .
ovens and efficiency
Dear Oven builders, mud teachers, bakers, and eaters: I would like to talk to you about some of the claims being published about the efficiency of earthen ovens. I think we need to be clear that any masonry oven, whether it's made of unfired earth or fired brick, is not, by definition, a "fuel efficient appliance" --Â especially if it isn't insulated. There are more and less efficient ways to work with an oven, and some of them make quite good use of the wood burnt in them, but in my experience, those ways don't apply to people who just want to cook a few pizzas, or a few loaves of . . .
Jumping bricks, or: inside out oven building
I built this oven for a local CSA farmstand restaurant (gathering together farm). We held a public workshop; folks came to make mud and learn and we built the basic oven in a weekend. BUT! (and this was my fault for not watching more closely), the dome came out a little flat. Usually, when it's not quite right, I tell folks, "OK, time to tear down and rebuild." This is a great way to conquer the fear of doing it wrong— and it's the only way to prove to folks the truth of my favorite oven-building adage: "the second time is easier and faster." But I let myself be convinced that the dome . . .