The Straw Bale And It's Many Uses

Mighty straw bales...utilized in almost all of our projects, they are especially valuable for use with the livestock, in the garden, and for creative endeavors like building.  The straw bale is an essential reusable staple on our homestead.   Check out some of the ways we reuse this free available resource.

Cold Frame/Mini Greenhouse

Simply made from bales and old windows, this greenhouse fits about twenty wooden seedflats.

 

Natural Building

making cob with clay, straw, sand, and water

 Animal Bedding 

 Compost Material

layers of  green grass, horse manure, straw and a variety of compostable scraps
 from around the farm make a nice hot pile

Growing Mushrooms

 Mulching Garden Beds

potatoes do well mulched heavily with straw
photo by Lori Eanes

Children's Archery Range

Another good idea: Straw Bale Compost Bins

For the small scale farmer and urban homesteader the possibilities are endless.  You can find bales for sale at your local race track, feed stores and often free on craigslist.  

Building A Hoophouse

A couple of weeks ago I was inspired to build a hoop house.  I was getting impatient waiting for my other half to come up with the master plans for our official greenhouse and steadily running out of places to put all the plants we are trying to propagate.  So after hunting around the property and snooping in hubby's workshop I came up with almost everything I needed for my guerrilla project.  The process is pretty self explanatory (if I can figure it out than anyone can).  I made this model 5' x 20' so it can stand alone or fit over a long garden bed if need be.

After screwing the wooden base together I attached some pvc pipe I had  left over from an old chicken tractor we took apart.  Then I added two pieces of pallet wood on the ends for stability and ran more pvc pipe across the top and sides, securing with cable ties.  I used these c-clamps to hold the pvc hoops upright.  

The only thing I purchased for this project was the plastic which I got at the dollar store, so my whole hoop house cost a grand total of $3 to make!

At the front entrance the plastic is tied around another shorter piece of pvc so I can lift it easily for watering and adding or removing plants.  

It may not be totally professional but my seedlings are super happy.  It gets really hot in there!  The corn and cucumbers are all quickly germinating and the squash just keep on coming.  We have also started dill, heirloom collards, Abyssinian kale, assorted beets, mammoth sunflowers, burdock, and peppers.  Whoo hoo!  

Field Trip

A recent excursion up north led us to the Solar Living Center in Hopland.  An inspiring and beautiful place, there was much to see and so many notes to take.  

As we meandered around the acreage we observed the sustainably built structures, gardens, water ways, and ponds.  The very alluring Real Goods store is packed with all kinds of goodies that you try to convince yourself you absolutely need.  I spent a lot of time in there!  

The boys had a go on these human energy harvesting bicycles which power the attached light bulbs.  If only we had something like that at home, the pg/e bill would be obsolete.  

The most interesting aspect of the center was their use of water catchment and distribution.  These streams (almost like concrete swales) flow all over the property eventually making their way into several large ponds.  

The willow and olive trees, fountains and generally peaceful atmosphere was so pleasant we did not want to leave.  

A visit to the garden offered some new ideas, like a cob green house and this permaculture herb spiral.  

And to wrap up our day we visited a small family dairy to learn about their milking routine, meet the jersey cows, and see their milk parlor set up.  All the cows were docile and lined right up to be milked.  We received some invaluable advice about the commitments involved with milking cows, how to start a successful herd share, testing for A1/A2 milk, and so much more.  It felt fantastic to connect with other small time dairy cattle owners.  Sometimes a little get away is just the right thing.  

Infinite Uses of the Pallet

It seems to be all about pallets around here.  Why?  They are free, super strong, and weather resistant, plus they're everywhere.  And for us, it just makes sense to use what we have or what is easily accessible.  

The pallet chicken coop is coming along.  After a bit of a break to work on many other projects, we are returning to finish it up.  We still need to insulate with straw, seal up the walls and paint the exterior.  The chickens don't seem to care about the disarray, they have happily taken up in the shade and even started laying in the empty boxes.

Another recent project is our pallet stanchion with eucalyptus branches that function as the closure.  Ginger doesn't seem to put up a fight.

Our mini green house is made of pallet wood and recycled windows, while the seed flats are just shortened, re-assembled pallet boards.

As for the Warre hives, the top box which is the insulation layer is made from pallet wood while the rest is pine.  

The options for working with this abundant  and durable resource are seemingly endless once you put your imagination to it. Isn't that just about true of anything though? 

Top Photos 
by Lori Eanes

Building an Earthen Oven

Early in September we hosted a sustainable building workshop facilitated by our neighbor Sasha Rabin of vertical clay.  The weekend was an amazing introduction to natural building.  We spent all day Saturday and Sunday building an earthen oven which will be used to bake wood fired pizza, hand made bread, and much more.  Everyone who participated had a wonderful time.  Even the kids had a blast and ended up designing and creating their very own cob oven (kids and mud are a great combination). 

We can't wait to fire her up for the first time!

We did some prep for the workshop, building the base out of urbanite, bricks, gravel, and some cob.

For the base we wanted to use materials we had on the property.  We basically dry stacked urbanite (no mortar), then filled in the center with broken brick pieces and gravel.  Next was the insulation layer.  We used some kiln bricks we had been saving.  Then we filled it all in with sand and leveled off the top.  A batch of cob was mixed up to patch up the cracks around the base. 

There was also some prep to the site before beginning the base...(digging about six inches down, filling in with gravel and some drainage tube/cloth.) 

The workshop started out with laying out the fire bricks, some measuring and sketching....

Not quite complete, she still needs a finish coat of plaster (we're thinking red).  It really is amazing to learn what you can build with the ground under your feet.  We have been truly inspired.  Thanks to all who participated!