For ELP class, we visited this eco-friendly farm. The family, mom, dad, and daughter, lived in a tent for 1.5 years while they built the home. They built the frame, filled it with straw, and used clay from their own land for the "drywall." You can see the results in this photo....gorgeous windows, and no paint...the clay is colored. Here the owner is showing the class photos of the house being built.
The counter tops are recycled glass.
These lights are made from painted jars.
The upstairs...wish I had gotten more photos inside the house. The toilet flushes using gray water from the sinks. The floors are concrete, painted with soy based paint and heated with geothermal energy. All the windows are on the South side of the home allowing for natural heat in the winter, and there is a powerful fan in the second floor ceiling to bring in cool air at night in the summer.
Outside of the home.
The chickens were a big hit with the children. Hard to see, but in this photo, the hen is off the ground jumping up to get a bit of cracker.
The brave ones chased and picked up a hen.
collecting eggs in the hen house.
learning the difference between a fresh egg and an older, store bought one.
The family planted nine acres of native prairie.
Here the children are going down into the clay pit, where the clay to build the home came from.
petting the pigs.
