2012 Emerald Earth Workshops

Natural Building Intensive
August 11-18
Instructors: Michael G. Smith & Brent Levin
Fee: $700 (includes camping and 3 delicious organic meals per day) 10% discount for full payment by July 1st

This workshop will familiarize students with the basic family of natural building materials: clay or earth, straw, wood, and stone, and what can be accomplished with each alone and in combination with the others. At least half of each day is spent on hands-on building with a high ratio of experienced instructors. This year's projects will focus on cob construction and earthen infill techniques (slipstraw or light straw clay, slip-and-chip, clay wattle and wattle and daub) and on rough and finish earthen plasters. We will also build an earthbag retaining wall and pour an earthen floor. Our site has examples of many other natural building techniques: cob, straw bale, cordwood masonry, adobe floors, round pole timber framing, living roofs, lime fresco, clay and casein paints, and much more. Lectures and discussions cover passive solar and other design principles for energy-efficient, compact natural homes. There will also be an extensive tour of the most complete natural building demonstration site on the West Coast, with an emphasis on natural materials harvesting, off-grid electrical generation, greywater reclamation, composting toilets, and more. Evening slide presentations and videos, a sauna with a dip in our pond, and wood-fired pizza from our earthen oven round out this 7-day intensive experience.

Birding - Connecting with our Soundscape
(2012 course date not scheduled yet)

Instructor: Kyle Keegan
Start Time: 8 am

A workshop on learning how to identify birds by ear. The workshop covers the identification and life history of resident and migrant birds. We will discuss and cover topics such as land management that affects bird populations; attracting bird species to help in insect and rodent control in the garden; neotropical migrant songbirds and how they connect us to the lands of Latin America.

Living in Tribelet:
Life in a rural, concensus-based, intentional community
(2012 course date not scheduled yet)

Instructor: Mika Smith, 10am - 5pm
Fee: $30 - $50 sliding scale (lunch included)

Join us for this indepth look at our community that includes:

• Tours of our homes, gardens and energy systems
• concensus decision making
• conflict resolution
• distribution of work and responsibilities
• question and answer period
• lunch with residents
• opportunity to take a dip in our beautiful pond
• a walk through our majestic redwoods

Enrollment Limited. Please call for details and directions (707) 972-3096, ask for Mika.

Acorns for Food
(2012 course date not scheduled yet)

Instructor: Cassidy Geppert, 9am - 3pm
Fee: $75 (lunch included)

We will look at the important role that acorns played in the lives of Northern California's indigenous peoples and learn how we can use this nutritious, delicious food as a staple in our diets. There will be hands-on processing of acorns, food samples, and recipes to share. Learn to identify the primary oak species of Northern California and know which ones make the best food for you and your family.

For questions and to register, email workshops@emeraldearth.org or call 707-972-3096

FOR A LISTING OF MORE COB (AND COB RELATED) WORKSHOPS BY OTHER ORGANIZATIONS, PLEASE VISIT WWW.COBWORKSHOPS.ORG.