clay render on a straw bale house

Anaig is a specialist in clay renders and I have worked along side her on a couple of straw bale build projects.  Here was slightly different, it was her project.  For years she has put her time, energy and expertise into building houses for others and now it is her turn.  I wasn’t sure how the experience was going to unfold.  Either there was going to be stress, angst and aiming for perfection or else a very laid back attitude.  Thankfully it was the latter.  A great team of volunteers, mainly there to gain experience before their own builds and some just for the sheer heck of participation and in return for the great work they have already received.  I think that once you’ve done some clay rendering there is always a hankering to do a bit more.  It gets into your blood so to speak.

I’d missed the first week, where they’d concentrated on rendering the outside of the building and arrived just as the interior was commencing. There had just been raw bales of straw at the start, which need to be promptly covered to protect them from the elements and rodent attack.  We worked at an unpressured pace, achieving a huge amount of work within the allotted time.  Just a small section upstairs to complete at a later date and a couple of patches that needed quiet, undivided attention to get right.  I got stuck in to some of the more challenging tasks such as corners and getting the two sides of doorway and window openings to match.  It was great to be given the opportunity, wonderful to have advice and guidance of a professional within the field and a proud moment to be told that my work was ‘superb’ by someone as exacting as Anaig.  

The week flew by, we never left the building site, dining in the adjacent barn or outside when it was fine, showering in a makeshift shower room with camping showers hoisted up by a pulley system and spending the evenings discussing our various projects and plans for the future.  

I’ll have to pop back again later in the year to see how work is progressing.  The site stops and starts as Anaig is still working on other projects to fund her build. 

what a beautiful setting

waiting for windows, doors, cladding and a roof

core render complete

straw walls before render

now that's a picture frame

some of the tools we used

deadlines get work done

House sitting is becoming a bit of a habit.  I’ve just completed the second sit, this time with a bit of a menagerie.  Three dogs, two cats, chickens and a horse.  Just down the road, so have continued to work on my ongoing projects.  The dogs were mischevious but very loving, several things got chewed to pieces, including my camera which I stupidly left within reach for a few minutes. (thankfully it still takes photos, but the screen no longer functions and it’s all a bit worse for wear.)  It was lovely to be in a house with all mod cons.  Light a fire on the cold damp days and watch crappy english TV via satellite. Not something I would normally entertain, but on those odd occasions, just the ticket.  I felt guilty if I left the animals alone, in their kennels, for too long, so tended to spend a fair amount of time at the house.  

A deadline can work wonders for productivity.  I’ve come away to visit friends and then on to England for a few weeks, so have been focussed on getting as much done as possible.  

Installing the guttering and getting the water saving system to work.

water butts in the vegetable garden 

Clearing and mulching all the newly planted shrubs and trees

straw mulch as a weed suppressant and for water retaining 

Building a table out of reclaimed pallets so that I could have the neighbours for lunch.

ten minute pallet table

Strimming round the field and mulching all the new hedge plantings with straw.

the hedge line looking great with it's new straw mulch

Finishing the steps through the hedge.

steps from field to garden

Planting all my seedling vegetable plants.

Then tidying the whole site to minimise loosing items into the fast growing vegetation which will have grown enormously by my return. 

I'm not going to be back till late July, so have my fingers crossed that the weather remains changeable with enough rain to keep the vegetables alive.  I hope that with the efforts in mulching and early care, they should be off to a good enough start to survive most eventualities.

minimizing soil erosion

Stabilizing the bank.  Theory into practice.

There is just a bank of solid, dry clay, with a scattering of loose lumps of soil over the surface.  Just walking on the surface causes mini landslides so I can only imagine what would happen if there was a torrential downpour.

Before the work started, the slope was much steeper but solidly held together with a strong network of interwoven roots from trees, bushes and undergrowth.  Additionally, the vegetation provided a covering blanket, gently breaking the fall of hurtling raindrops, cushioning their impact and minimising their destructive action on the surface of the soil.  By the time the water reached the soil it was either as a fine mist of slowly trickling down the stems and trunks of plants in a gentle manner, giving the soil time to soak it in.

This I needed to replicate quickly.

The mini terraces provide plentiful flat areas which will stop the flow of water from becoming too large.  If a trickle starts to flow it will have be slowed or stopped at each terrace, allowing it to be absorbed by the earth.  LIttle landslides will be halted before they gather speed and weight.  They also provide places for autumn leaves to gather and wild seeds to germinate

To encourage the network of roots immediately I have planted broad beans, which are normally planted in autumn.  They will germinate quickly and begin to hold the soil together, the shoots will rise, providing the start of a cushioning layer of vegetation.  In addition, they are legumes, the one family of plants that take nitrogen from the air and transforms it into nodules on their roots, available for soil microbes and eventually other plants to use.  Nitrogen is needed by all plants to produce chlorophyll (the green) and is an essential nutrient for plant life.  I have also planted mustard, cheap and easily cast over the ground, it’ll die off in the winter, but not before sprouting a decent root network and some greenery.  All good news for reestablishing a humus layer for future plants to root into.

There was also that bag of seeds that has been hanging in the van for the last year, getting heavier and heavier.  All the seeds I have collected from hedgerows and gardens around Britain and France.  In a moment of abandon they too all got sown on this bank, so who knows what it’ll look like in a few years time.

Immediately after sowing the seeds, I covered the whole area with a decent layer of partially composted weedy clippings.  The easiest thing to hand and another contribution to soil regeneration.  It will also provide a cushioning effect for any rain that falls before the plants have time to get going.  

Then. as a protection for it all a three to four inch layer of straw. This is the final layer for this side of winter, though there is an additional bale of straw (a big round one) at the ready, should gaps appear, or the wind become strong enough to blow away what is already there.  Amazingly, it all seems to hold together really well and now that there has been some gentle rain, it shouldn’t be going anywhere.

verdant green self protecting slope

bare, erosion ready earthworks in need of protection

mini terracing immediately stop the tiny landslides from getting bigger

plant roots will help stabilize the soil and the compost mulch will
cushion the falling rain

a decent layer of straw to keep it all together, regulate the  humidity of
the soil and keep of the drying rays of the sun

A week later as I write this post, there has been a torrential downpour with no obvious consequences, the mustard has sprouted and is showing green through the thinner areas of straw and along the bare lower slopes and all the wild plants that I put aside have been tucked back in and are looking fine.