Listed Chronologically

Cob Workshop
July 11 - 19
Athens, TN

This workshop is a step by step guide to building with cob. You will learn how to take your raw piece of land and completely construct a cob building correctly and efficiently. The workshop will be help at our farm in Athens, TN where we have 3 cob buildings currently. The knowledge and experience you will learn with us is:

-Soil selection and determining ratios of cob ingredients
-The many ways to mix cob as well as the cost and time each method takes
-Building site selection and using passive solar
-Building planning and preparations
-Foundations, footings and stem walls
-Doors, windows and roof structure
-How to apply cob correctly and efficiently
-Shaping walls, doors and windows
-Plumbing and electrical
-Other natural building methods
-Lots of hands on experiences and visuals
-There will be lots of time for questions

For more information see www.facebook.com

Construction Skills for Women
July 17 - 19
Peterborough, ON Canada

This workshop will be held over three non-consecutive weekends for a total of 8 learning days. Interested in learning some bad-ass building skills? Our Construction Skills for Women workshop is your chance! This workshop involves you in all the steps of framing and finishing a small building. You’ll measure, mark, cut and assemble floors, roofs, walls, doors, windows and siding… all in a supportive atmosphere with two experienced women carpenters to lead and direct you.

See endeavourcentre for more onformation.

Earthbag Dome Workshop
July 18 - 26
Portland, Oregon

Learn the art of dome building with this elegant technique that uses woven poly sacks to retain the rammed earth. We'll accomplish an 8 - 10 foot dome, and experience a bit of all phases in this course. Gain knowledge of how the geometry of the dome gives it strength. Register before June 30th, and get 20% off. Email us at scottATearthenhand.com to register today. 

Cob Workshop
July 25 - August 2
Athens, TN

This workshop is a step by step guide to building with cob. You will learn how to take your raw piece of land and completely construct a cob building correctly and efficiently. The workshop will be help at our farm in Athens, TN where we have 3 cob buildings currently. The knowledge and experience you will learn with us is:

-Soil selection and determining ratios of cob ingredients
-The many ways to mix cob as well as the cost and time each method takes
-Building site selection and using passive solar
-Building planning and preparations
-Foundations, footings and stem walls
-Doors, windows and roof structure
-How to apply cob correctly and efficiently
-Shaping walls, doors and windows
-Plumbing and electrical
-Other natural building methods
-Lots of hands on experiences and visuals
-There will be lots of time for questions

For more information see www.facebook.com

Strawbale Wall Intensive
(plus some hempcrete & light-clay straw)
July 30 - August 2
Fawn Grove, PA

THIS COURSE IS FOR YOU IF...you want a deep understanding of how to build a super-insulated strawbale home, especially if you live in a wet climate. We'll be building the insulating walls of a greenhouse structure. You'll also see (& we'll discuss) a heat storage wall, built with rammed earth, cob, and adobe.

WHAT YOU LEARN
□ how to install durable strawbale walls & the 1st coating of clay plaster
□ when strawbale walls benefit you most
□ properly detailing for wet climates
□ understanding performance & code-compliance
□ calculating quantities
□ passive solar design overview
□ BONUS: we'll also do a bit of hempcrete and light-clay straw

For more information see www.facebook.com

Natural Building Course
August 1 - 8
Portugal, Fundao, Mount of Oaks Community

My focus is always the teaching and the participants, so we will not attempt to finish a particular building, as I ve learned from other Course's experience that that is not the best approach as 8 days is a very short time.
Yet, every course the participants get amazed with how much they achieve in 8 days as you can see in the videos. The goal is also for each participant to be part and see the progress of at least a wall, if not more, depending on the design and ability of the group.
The Course will include basics of DESIGN and Sustainable building, FOUNDATIONS ( more visual and theoretical, as it’s very hard labour to dig and move gravel, and that can be easily explained), STEM/support wall ( SUPERADOBE), WALLS of different techniques ( WATTLE and DAUB, CORDWOOD/COB, STRAWBALE, LIGHT EARTH as insulation), EARTH PLASTERS, LIME PLASTERS, LIME wash with coloured PIGMENTS, and other natural finishes.
I've also made a MANUAL, which is also in PDF form and it will be sent to each participant at the moment of REGISTRATION. Itaddress each subject in a mind map style, just to help the participants take their notes on my handmade scribbles and drawings :-)

For more information see www.facebook.com

Hybrid Straw Bale/Cob Tiny House
August 2 - September 13
Pietris, Romania

We will be building Sarai, Aurel and Isarin’s 25m2 home.  While this size is about double or a little less than what we normally build in our 5-week workshops, we have decided to adjust some elements to be able to complete the building in 6 weeks.  The workshop will be considered an Intermediate Cob Building Workshop because the foundation will be built ahead of time, which will save us 2 weeks!  When students arrive the foundation will be completed and ready for cob. Many students prefer this as the foundation is alot of heavy work and can be built by professionals as well.  Students, as always, will still learn about Foundation in the lecture but not build it.  Since the foundation of a cob building is not special to cob, you can have anyone build a foundation who knows how, but what IS special is how the connecting surface is finished, which we will explain and you will see before we add the Cob.  The workshop thus will focus on Cob and Straw Bale walls (50/50), and students will get to learn both systems in what we call a Hybrid System and how they connect, plus floor, plaster and Reciprocal Frame Green roof.  We will also build a Sara Adobe Masonry Heater during one of the weeks. 

Students will learn ALOT by building every day with continuous instruction both practical hands-on and theoretical using lecture time, slides and videos.  You will leave fully confident to build your own cob house or someone else’s, which is your next step after graduating from our training!  This will take you to the next level of understanding and experience after which you can be a competent cob workshop assistant and builder.

For more information see cruzincobglobal.org

Timber Frame Workshop
August 8 - 14
Berea, Kentucky

Ever wonder what it’s like to build a timber frame from the ground up? Join The Year of Mud this summer for a 7 day Timber Frame Workshop. In this introductory class, students will use timeless techniques and traditional hand tools to lay out, join, and raise a beautiful timber frame pavilion. Learn valuable new carpentry skills in a gorgeous mountain setting, and discover how to build a long-lived timber structure using mortise & tenon joinery — without depending on nails or screws.

Hands-On Skills Include:

• How to acquire timbers and select material
• Joinery layout using the square rule method
• Safe hand tool use for cutting joinery, including hand saws, chisel and mallet, hand plane, axe, boring machine, etc.
• Fitting and assembling a timber frame
• Finishing timbers with natural oils
• Frame raising methods
• Hand tool restoration & sharpening (including restoring old tools so they work like new again)
• How timber framing relates to other natural materials, including straw bale and clay construction

For more information see www.theyearofmud.com

Cob Cottage
August 9 - September 6
Mesa, Colorado

The workshop students will be building the stone foundation and walls of a personal retreat cob cottage for the Center.  Students will receive the Intermediate Cobber Certification for foundation, walls, floor and plaster.  The size of the cottage will be around 120ft2, depending on size of workshop.  The foundation will be built in Week 1 from the local rock on the land using lime and sand mortar.  On Day 5 we will pour the first layer of cob floor over tamped gravel and insulation.  In weeks 2 & 3 we will build the circular Cob Wall with opening and fixed windows, niches, shelves, bottles, other useful natural elements inserted into the wall for hanging art work and clothing, electrical outlets and housing, and the roof connection.  At the end of week 3 we will sculpt the wall and in week 4, we will plaster the wall and finish the second floor coat. Students will learn ALOT by building every day with continuous instruction, both practical hands-on and theoretical using lecture time, slides and videos.  You will leave fully confident to build your own cob house or someone else’s, which is your next step after graduating from our training!  This will take you to the next level of understanding and experience after which you will be a much more competent workshop assistant and builder.

 For more inflrmation see cruzincobglobal.org

Introduction to Clay Plaster Workshop
August 15 - 16
Fawn Grove, PA

THIS COURSE IS FOR YOU IF...you want to learn the most versatile clay plaster recipe. If you want ONE plaster workshop, THIS IS IT!
We will use this plaster to straighten lumpy strawbale walls and add sculpted features to our cob graffiti wall.

WHAT YOU LEARN
□ understanding ingredients for clay plasters and where to source them
□ how to test soil for clay
□ what makes a clay plaster suitable for sculpting
□ establishing your recipes
□ mixing techniques
□ how to apply & sculpt clay plasters

You do NOT need previous plastering experience!!

For more information see www.facebook.com

Adobe Brick Nubian Vault
August 22 - 30
Portland, Oregon

A classic method of building a roof that never goes out of style! Learn how to construct an adobe brick vault start to finish. Practice making adobe mixes, turning them into bricks and mortar. Become a proficient brick layer, and gain understanding of how the geometry of the vault makes it durable. Register before July 30th, and get 20% off. Email us at scottATearthenhand.com to register today.

COB Building Workshop
August 26 - September 4
Nagydobsza, Hungary

I've invited Maiana Barrass from France to share her knowledge and wisdom with women who have an interest in the transformational healing work that can occur when we work together as a sisterhood. Together we will create a beautiful, peaceful sanctuary in nature, a small meditation room in the Enchanted Garden. When you build consciously and set an intention for your build, magic happens. It creates the opportunity for deep inner healing and transformational work to take place. Maiana will teach you how easy it is to build a cob structure by hand – from start to finish. 

A structure that will give you a sacred space. One that you can build in your own back garden. A space you can use just for you, be it for healing, meditation, an art room or music room. Built the feminine way; the way our ancestors built, without the need for machines or fancy tools. Women are the nest builders after all! Using ancient divining methods, our hands and feet, intuition and body wisdom, we will co-create an approx 8ft-diameter round cob structure that will be used as a personal development, healing and meditation space. This template will allow you to build your own space to a size that suits your own needs, with your own dimensions.

For more information see www.singingvillage.org

Tadelakt Workshop
September 5 - 7
Fawn Grove, PA

THIS COURSE IS FOR YOU IF...you want to learn how to create this gorgeous, versatile, waterproof finish, made with natural ingredients. You will start by making a practice object to take home with you. Then we will apply tadelakt to our cob oven.

WHAT YOU LEARN
□ understanding your materials
□ understanding the chemistry (yes, there's lots of chemistry!)
□ mixing techniques
□ how to prepare your wall surface
□ how to apply & finish tadelakt
□ calculating quantities (including pigments)
□ tips for your own projects

For more information see www.facebook.com

Natural Building Essentials
September 5 - 8
Berea, Kentucky

Want to take your natural building curiosity to the next level? Join us for our 4 day introductory Natural Building Essentials Workshop. In this course, you’ll get hands-on experience building light clay straw walls, mixing and applying natural plasters, and stomping and sculpting cob. In addition, we’ll tour several beautiful natural homes in the local community. If you’ve been inspired by natural building and need a jump start, this is the course for you. We’ll give you the solid foundation you need to take your dreams further. Families with children are welcome! This workshop is an excellent opportunity to build with natural materials and discover the versatility of clay, sand, straw, and wood. We’ll work with cob, light clay straw, clay plaster, clay paint, and earthen floors.

During our tour day, we’ll get to see real life examples of straw bale homes, cob, and timber frames. We’ll touch upon design topics beyond the basics, including permaculture principles, passive solar, tips for home orientation, wood heat, building according to your needs, etc. Additionally, we’ll include tips about incorporating natural building elements into an existing conventional home. Finally, here’s a rundown of hands-on activities you can expect:

• Framing and preparing a stud wall to accept light clay straw insulation
• Mixing light clay straw for insulation
• Making and applying clay plaster made from local materials
• Building with cob (and how to make a great batch every time)
• Cob oven design and construction
• Working with clay and lime plaster finishes and appropriate troweling techniques
• How to install an earthen floor
• Mixing clay paint from simple ingredients for use on a variety of surfaces
• Understanding the differences between thermal mass and insulation

For more infor3mation see www.theyearofmud.com

Natural Building Workshop
Sept. 7 - Oct. 11
Badolato, Italy

In this permaskills Natural Building Workshop we are building a PermaHome classroom for Christoph & Mario’s permaculture project in southern Italy. There are no skill requirements. You will learn everything you need to build a house from foundation to roof.

From April 27th to May 30th we will start another round of permaskills Natural Building Workshops near Badolato in southern Italy. These workshops will provide you plenty of opportunity to get hands-on experience in Natural Building, all the skills and especially the confidence you need to build a little cabin for yourself. The highlights of these workshops are a natural rock stemwall & foundation, a natural round wood timber frame and roof, light-straw-clay, straw bale as well as cob walls, earthen floors, earthen plasters, a rainwater harvesting roof and even cob sculpting, Tadelakt and an integrated greenhouse.

See permaskills.org for more information.

Cob Oven & Benches
September 13 - 20
Pietris, Romania

We will be building a community-size cob oven for baking everything in fueling it with the plentiful wood in the forest behind the Quinta.  Students will build the foundation, insulation, and three oven shells (inner, insulation, outer) and finish with plaster.  The high heat-exposed cob is different than the building cob used for the benches and external sculpted shell and students will learn the difference and how to figure out each mix.  The oven and benches will allow for maximum creativity that will depend on the students’ input and inspiration!  All materials will be as local as possible and students will be building all phases with some lecture time to support the hands-on work.

For more infor3mation see cruzincobglobal.org

Carpentry for Women
Sept. 26 - 27
Peterborough, ON Canada

Have you ever wanted to tackle a carpentry project but don’t know quite where to start? Are you looking to gain more confidence with power tools and workshop techniques? The Carpentry for Women workshop creates a friendly, inviting space for women who would like to learn the basics of carpentry. In the comfort of a women-only space, experienced carpenters Jen Feigin and Deirdre McGahern will introduce you to the world of measuring, marking and layout, hand and power tools.

See endeavourcentre for more onformation.

Essential Hempcrete Construction
October 3
Peterborough, ON Canada

In the Essential Hempcrete workshop, you will find out how hempcrete is made, see a slideshow of various Canadian and international hempcrete building projects, and gain an understanding of how, why and where hempcrete is an appropriate material choice. In the classroom, we will look at the costs, material sourcing and building science of using hempcrete on new building projects and renovations.

See endeavourcentre for more onformation.

Intensive Building with Cob!
Oct. 3 - 11
Hughes Springs, Tx

Roll up your sleeves and prepare to get muddy for this intensive 9 day workshop. Learn how to build your own cob cottage from the foundation to the roof! Discover all the materials you can use, cob, straw bales, or light clay straw. Learn how to mix and apply natural plasters and leave with a feeling of empowerment and confidence to build your own cob cottage or other natural building project! Tour and explore Cat Taylor's massive bale/cob home build recently featured on the Discovery channel and DIY network!

For more information see www.facebook.com

Design Your Own Sustainable Renovation
October 17 - 18
Peterborough, ON Canada

The workshop is designed to be an un-biased look at all the options available to the prospective renovator, and to share tools to help you assess and choose your way to the renovated home you’ve been dreaming of. You will leave this workshop ready to handle all the competing claims and information you will face by focusing on your personalized goals and aspirations and creating a road map for how best to meet them.

See endeavourcentre for more onformation.

Intro to Lime Plaster & Tadelakt
October 24
Peterborough, ON Canada

Lime has been used in plasters for thousands of years, and it is highly valued by modern plasterers for its balance of weather resistance, permeability, strength and flexibility. It is very versatile and can be used in thick base coats and fine polished finish plasters. It can also be perplexing, with a variety of types of lime available, and chemical reactions occurring between lime and clay or other mix materials. Black soap applied to the surface of a lime plaster can add shine and water resistance –  this is the key to tadelakt, a polished waterproof lime plaster originating in Morocco, but it can be used on other lime finishes. This workshop explores the types of lime and how they can be used in base coat, finish, and fine finish plasters. The morning will mostly be focused on theory and types of mixes; in the afternoon students will have an opportunity to apply some finish plasters on sample boards, and get a taste of tadelakt.

See endeavourcentre for more onformation.

Introduction to Renewable Energy Workshop
November 7
Peterborough, ON Canada

This workshop is the perfect introduction to the world of renewable energy, designed to help you figure out the best path to finding yourself living a renewable energy lifestyle. Instructor Sean Flanagan has been designing and installing renewable energy systems for over a decade, and unlike many renewable energy teachers he lives off-grid himself, giving him an intimate knowledge of what works and what doesn’t.

See endeavourcentre for more onformation.

Carpentry for Women
November 14 - 15
Peterborough, ON Canada

Have you ever wanted to tackle a carpentry project but don’t know quite where to start? Are you looking to gain more confidence with power tools and workshop techniques? The Carpentry for Women workshop creates a friendly, inviting space for women who would like to learn the basics of carpentry. In the comfort of a women-only space, experienced carpenters Jen Feigin and Deirdre McGahern will introduce you to the world of measuring, marking and layout, hand and power tools.

See endeavourcentre for more onformation.

Design Your Own Sustainable Home Workshop
November 21 - 22
Peterborough, ON Canada

You will be guided through the process of setting the goals that will shape your project and learn how to assess all the available material and system options to meet your goals. Instructor Chris Magwood is an expert guide for this journey, having helped hundreds of owner-builders through the process of designing and building their dream green home. The workshop is designed to be an un-biased look at all the options available to the prospective owner-builder, and to assist you with tools to help you assess and choose your way to the house of your dreams. You will leave this workshop ready to handle all the competing claims and information you will face by focusing on your personal goals and aspirations and creating a road map for how best to meet them.

See endeavourcentre for more onformation.

Natural and Non-Toxic Paints
December 5
Peterborough, ON Canada

Natural & non-toxic paints are the easiest, most-affordable and accessible way to make your home healthier and more beautiful. The Natural & Non-Toxic Paints workshop will introduce you to all of the different kinds of healthy paints available on the market, and give you a chance to try them out and learn application techniques for each. In the workshop, we will cover:

See endeavourcentre for more onformation.

See On-Going Workshops for more listings.