Each workshop is unique. This latest one was in transcendent Crestone, Colorado, at the foot of the Rockies. After we arrived at our campground in the mountains, we looked out over the plane before us. Dust devils, hundreds of feet high wandered on the horizon below. To call it a surrealistic experience is an understatement!
We had a large, motivated group and we were able to get a lot of the wall built. I’ve said it before and I’ll probably be saying it as long as we’re holding these events but we have the privilege of working with a very intelligent and diverse group of folks. People are hungry for change. Economic necessity and what has happened to housing prices is driving folks to look for other alternatives to costly conventional stick-frame houses.
The fill material we were working with was scoria (volcanic rock). It has tiny air bubbles in it which make it much lighter than dirt and give it insulative properties. I loved working with it! It seemed to weigh about half of what standard earthbags weigh. We got 1000 bags diddled and filled the first day of the workshop!