As part of our building project, we have designed a frost-protected stub foundation. This would be built conventionally out of concrete, but we have decided to make it out of fieldstone and mortar. Although we made this decision in order to source our materials from as close to the building site as possible (check out … More Stone Foundations are Emissions Friendly
I recently had an article published in Thatcher’s Standard, the UK’s thatching trade publication, which may be of interest to those following the institute’s work. Enjoy!
This year we’re building a timber-frame workshop and we’ll have classes almost every weekend, covering this build from start to finish. See our Events page for the complete schedule, which is being finalized at this time. Classes typically run $50 with a cap of $500 for ten or more. See also: Build a Mallet (Mar. … More Upcoming Workshop — Build (Timber-Framing) Sawhorses, Apr. 15, 9 a.m.–4 p.m., $50 ($40 for members)
This year we’re building a timber-frame workshop and we’ll have classes almost every weekend, covering this build from start to finish. See our Events page for the complete schedule, which is being finalized at this time. Classes typically run $50 with a cap of $500 for ten or more. See also: Sawhorses (Apr. 15), Tool … More Upcoming Workshop — Build a (Timber-Framing) Mallet, Apr. 8, 9 a.m.–4 p.m., $50 ($40 for members)
Friend of the institute and frequent instructor, Todd Fleming, will be leading a class at Schumacher Farm. Please consider attending if you’re interested in bringing antique tools back into use. We hope to offer this class next year at the institute. Workshop Details See listing at the Schumacher Farm website. This class will be an … More Bringing Old Tools Back to Work, April 9, $20 — at Schumacher Farm
This year we’ll be building a timber-frame compost and garden hutch, and we’d like to invite you to come join us to get some hands-on experience. Timber framing was the dominant wood-based building method for hundreds of years before modern stick framing was developed to take advantage of smaller, cheaper pieces of wood. Instead of … More Timber Framing and Thatching — Upcoming Work Days — Saturdays & Sundays June–July, Free (Space is Limited)
A chainsaw and log splitter can make quick work of a cord of firewood. But they’re dependent on fossil fuels. How do saws and splitting axes stack up? We tested it out this spring as part of our Low Tech R & D series. You can find this and other tests at the project page. … More Firewood: Saw and Axe vs. Chainsaw and Splitter — Low Tech R & D
In this video, we put together photos, video, and other information about our in-ground Walipini greenhouse. We started this project in 2017. You can see some blog posts about this topic to read more: Design (https://lowtechinstitute.org/2017/11/07/walipini-earthbag-greenhouse-design/)Siting (https://lowtechinstitute.org/2017/10/12/walipini-earth-bag-greenhouse-siting-and-bags/)Foundation (https://lowtechinstitute.org/2017/11/06/walipini-earthbag-greenhouse-foundation-and-bags/)Update (https://lowtechinstitute.org/2019/12/18/walipini-update/) Please remember to subscribe to our YouTube Channel! You can find all of our videos under … More New Video: No. 23 — Walipini: In-Ground Greenhouse
A few years ago we built a chicken coop using wood from a dead spruce on our property. You can see a video of the whole process in parts I and II. We also had a few blog posts with details of the build and plaster walls. We have plans to build a new timber … More Timber Frame Compost Hutch Design
This project tests the performance of a modular, scalable compost box that uses a composting chamber to support an attached growing bed with nitrogen, moisture, carbon dioxide, and heat to grow greens in the shoulder and off seasons; includes a series of controlled tests to determine best practices. … More Research Project No. 7 — Hot Box Compost: Modular Composting System that Heats, Waters, and Fertilizes Grow Bed for Off-Season Production