Cob Earth plaster articles on the 'net + TLS preview

[Mark Piepkorn]

	Four earth-plaster articles are posted to
http://www.strawhomes.com/main/bonus/earthplaster.html

	Two are exclusive and haven't been read anywhere before. They were
intended for the current issue of The Last Straw, but ended up held in
anticipation of an upcoming in-depth plasters issue. Because earthen
plasters are generally misunderstood and totally underused, we decided to
post them in hope of sparking imaginations. The articles (the other two of
which have been on the 'net for some time at other locations) are
principally about plastering strawbale, but most of the info is
cross-applicable to other substrate materials.

	Also, the authors of three of the four articles (Keely Megan, Cedar Rose
and Carol Crews) are now confirmed presenter/teachers at Build Here Now.
Last I heard it hasn't sold out yet, but is headed that way. (If you wanna
go, don't wait too long; quite a few people missed out on the International
Straw-Bale Conference because they didn't sign up in time.) Rumor has it
that Ianto Evans and Linda Smiley may have a cancellation which will free
them up to come join the other 35 confirmed presenter/teachers. Maybe.
Keith Lindauer's thing in Rico CO is gonna be good too. I'm planning on
being at both.

	If you have email-only access and want the articles and other information,
let me know offlist.

*

	The current issue of TLS is now at the printer and will be mailed out in a
couple/three weeks. Here's a few highlights:

	An update from Evgeny Shirokov in Belarus about activities there; national
codes for strawbale and straw-clay have been adopted, and involvement goes
all the way up to the Belarus presidential administration.

	Tons of leads and reports from all over Europe: a 1956 strawbale garage in
Norway, a 1921 house in France, a 1955 house in The Netherlands... we ain't
got a lock on anything here in the US, lemme tell ya. Current activities
are reported in Germany, England, France, Denmark, Poland, Norway, Romania,
Italy, Portugal, Belgium, Austria, Ireland, Wales, The Netherlands...
including things like all-thread injection "chairs" for fluffy Norwegian
bales, contact info for European natural-building organizations, six
*hours* of coverage on Denmark's national television station, a project to
house Kosova refugees, seldom-seen angles of the Thierry Dronet workshop
that everyone loves from The Straw Bale House book, a Waldorf school,
magazine reviews, upcoming conferences and events, presentations of
projects big and small (including a warehouse squat in The Netherlands!)...
and much more... a great deal of it applicable to concerns here in the US.

	On the more technical end, there's Paul Lacinski on how to do rainscreen
siding right - a synopsis of an excerpt from the book he and Michel
Bergeron are finishing up for Chelsea Green on cold-and-wet-climate strawbale.

	A thorough article on lime plaster from Barbara Jones in England.

	A few tips from Athena & Bill Steen on lime-over-earth.

	Bits on cob, rammed earth, and cordwood from Michael Smith (author of The
Cobber's Companion), Jean D'Aragon (of CRATerre), and Lars Keller (of the
Folkecenter For Renewable Energy in Denmark)... all of these much more
introductory than anything, but interesting even (perhaps especially) for
those who already have an interest in the techniques. Strawbale *isn't*
always the answer, no more so than any other building material.

	A great article on thatching, again from Barbara Jones in England.

	Fascinating little article on seaweed roofs in Denmark - as old as three
hundred years.

	Ed Raduazo weighs in with a nice piece about building wattle-and-daub
birdhouses... the underlying appeal being that it's a way to help the
birdies while field-testing a number of natural-plaster recipes to get an
idea of how they'll hold up.

	John Glassford, in his inimitable soulfulness and humor, recaps the recent
International Straw Caravan and its importance both practically and
philosophically.

	And more.

*



   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   Freewheeling autonomous speculation - Think!
    I'm off the clock and on my own time, dig?
         Mark Piepkorn (f.k.a. M J Epko)
        <duckchow at mail2.greenbuilder.com>
               Kingston, New Mexico
   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    In the world to come I shall not be asked,
    "Why were you not Moses?" I should be 
    asked, "Why were you not Zusya?"
                                 - Rabbi Zusya