We're told that we are supposed to get a job so that we can make money to pay for things we need to live.
Live edge cedar siding and walnut door trim from our land with clay plaster. Note the solar panels. We get 100% of our energy needs fulfilled through solar.
Unpacking this belief has shown me that not only do I not need to pay for all (or even most) of the bare necessities, but that the options available in the mainstream are not always healthy, ethical, beautiful or aligned with nature.
Subscribing to the belief that we are not capable to meet our own basic needs robs us of an essential part of being human.
It is only recently that we have accepted the reality that making a wage was the best way to meet our needs. Money is necessary today (unless you're really hardcore), but it's a shame that the majority of the population is not able or believes they are not able to meet their own needs. Meeting our basic needs of water, food, water, shelter and medicine are given over to the experts or professionals.
It hasn't always been this way...
View from our gazebo of the clay plaster on our solar shed and decorative flags made by a friend.
Providing for oneself, family, community or tribe is the simplest act of being radically human To address the roots of the life we live everyday. In ways large and small, we can meet some or most of our own basic needs.
Shelter building is done by most species on Earth, but why do we humans "leave it to the pros"?
Since awakening to a deeper, expanded and illuminated view of the world, I have been focused on the basics of water, food, water, shelter and medicine. Shelter is the subject of this post, and I'd like to explore that a bit here.
A heritage yellow pine log home we visited in Arkansas with oak shingled roof. Built in early 1800s, this is now a historical landmark. Log cabins such as these are traditional in this area.
As I mentioned earlier, if we give over control to others, we are not always meeting our needs in a manner that is aligned with the Earth.
In the case with the vast majority of buildings, the origins and outcomes are divorced from Nature. The methods are standardized (time is money right?) and horrendously polluting and destructive materials are utilized as a matter of course. What gives?
Concrete is used unscrupulously and has become the standard method of building in many cases. The production of cement (the dry products that becomes cement when mixed with water) is very energy intensive, harmful and polluting from production until it becomes stone. It is in fact one of the primary producers of greenhouse gases source. This doesn't even touch on the negative effects of pavement on the watershed (which are massive). And don't even get me started on vinyl...
From off-gassing plastic materials to poor air quality and the necessary ties to the bank, modern building is not designed to support healthy habitations. Rather it is standardized to allow for quick production of uniform building (and to make lots of money in the process!).
Detail of our cedar log cabin.
Unless you're rolling in the dough, most of us must settle for standard methods of construction that make sick buildings. Glues, fire retardants and plastics all make for an unhealthy body that may manifest in a wide range of symptoms and sensitivities. But.....
By choosing to DIY you can create an empowered and life-giving natural building
We have chosen this lifestyle because we believe in a better way of living than the modern culture that has severed much of its ties to the natural world. Wren and I both have visited many buildings constructed with natural materials and in alignment with nature and we feel the difference. Wren is especially sensitive and thrives in natural buildings and usually suffers a bit in modern toxic environments. We caught the natural building bugs, it's contagious.
There's something ancient, connected and inherently beautiful and healthy about natural buildings.
Meeting our own needs of shelter is one way we choose empowerment over standard industrial buildings.
A clay hut at ECHO demonstration site in Homestead, Florida. This is a common earthen design in sub saharan Africa.
Building can seem daunting, but it doesn't need to be...
Before our societal organization became extremely specialized, we were more connected to meeting our own needs. Beavers don't hire a contracted to build their den... Yet they also don't use plastic and concrete. Instead they use the resources available the them. We have forgotten that we too can build!
During WWII, citizens were encourage to grow Victory Gardens. Really this was a hyped up movement that was commonplace before the rise of urbanization and the industrial society. "By 1944 Victory Gardens were responsible for producing 40% of all vegetables grown in the United States. More than one million tons of vegetables were grown in Victory Gardens during the war." source. I bring this up to show that when pressed, humans can shift behavior to meet their own needs.
Many of the folks planting victory garden didn't know how to grow food, but guess what??? THEY LEARNED.
Amaranth grows easily on our homestead and is a quality grain. We seek to grow much of our own food here.
Using natural building materials is a healthy (for the Earth and all of its inhabitants), rewarding and economical way to meet our shelter needs.
Since moving to our homestead, we both have learned a lot about building and have reaped the benefits of learning these skills.
We have erected a composting toilet, gazebo, solar shed, outdoor kitchen, yurt platform and are gearing up for a sauna soon.
Without gaining DIY skills we would not be able to live this way. As it stands we are able to choose to use stone, wood and clay to construct the necessary structures.
There are many methods techniques and materials we will discuss in future posts. The great thing about the diversity of options is that there are opportunities to use local material around the globe. Whether using straw bales (forget whatever you've heard of the 3 little pigs...), sun baked adobes, stones or stout timbers, humans have been building with natural material FAR longer than the industrial options we rely so heavily on today.
Stone dwellings in Canyon de Chelly. Humans living very locally and incredibly integrated into their environment!
We are passionate about healthy and sustainable living and residing in a natural structure is a must!
Not only do we avoid ties to banks & debt (I'll pass on the mortgage thank you very much), we also replace toxic and unhealthy spaces with structures that are connected to the Earth.
When their time is passed (hopefully long after we're gone) they will return to their respective elements. Although we do not use strictly 100% natural materials (enameled roofing is a great industrial innovation that allows safe and easy water harvesting), we strive to build as close to nature as is locally possible.
Have you ever felt the warmth of a clay plaster or seen the sun dance on timber?
