What we offer
Quail Springs sponsors a variety of natural building workshops, from weekend introductions to several week long workshops. Topics encompass a range of earthen building systems including cob, light straw clay (slip-straw), wattle & daub, adobe brick, earth bag and earthen plasters. Our workshops focus on learning and understanding the fundamentals of building with earthen materials so that one can leave with the skills needed to begin their own project. We cater to first time builders as well as people with some experience who want to deepen their knowledge of earthen building.
Natural Building Courses
Introduction to Cob & Natural Building
Cob building combines clay sediment, sand, fiber, and water, and is hand sculpted to form walls, benches, ovens, and fireplaces. Cob building makes use of readily available, affordable, non-toxic materials to build beautiful, organic structures. The course is appropriate for both first-time builders and for professionals in the building trade who are interested in natural materials. In this cob workshop, we focus on the characteristics of the natural materials most commonly used in construction: clay soil, sand, and fibers.
Cob Weekend Workshop
Cob building combines clay sediment, sand, fiber, and water, and is hand sculpted to form walls, benches, ovens, and fireplaces. Cob building makes use of readily available, affordable, non-toxic materials to build beautiful, organic structures.In this course we will cover the basics of building with earth. It will be an introduction to working with clay soil, sand and straw to create building materials like cob and adobe. We will have hands on experience building wall systems, as well as classroom time to help give context and understanding to the principles involved.
Natural Building Internship
Earth and lime have been used as beautiful and functional finishes around the world for thousands of years, from lime sealed roofs, to ornately sculpted earthen designs, to earthen floors. This month long apprenticeship will be open to 6 inspired individuals, who have some natural building experience and want to learn more about how to finish the beautiful structures they create.
Rocket Mass Heater Workshop
Rocket mass heaters (RMH) are super efficient wood fired masonry stoves that are appropriate for many climates and lifestyles for a comfortable heat source that uses local fuel and doesn’t need an electrical grid connection. Known as the “people’s masonry stove,” RMH’s are simple, affordable to self build, use mostly simple local materials and offer the advantage that they can usually be retrofitted into cabins and small homes with minor structural reinforcing.
Cob Oven Workshop
This Cob Oven Building workshop is designed to teach you the skills needed to build your own oven in your backyard, as well as encouraging a new way of relating to our food and the process in which it is cooked and created. The weekend will be catered with food cooked in the two already existing wood fired cob ovens we have on site. As we go through the process of building an oven, throughout the weekend we will also be engaging in the process of cooking in one and sharing and feasting on some of the myriad of things that can be cooked in them
Upcoming Courses
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