Going Brown 101 – Building and Growing with Nature

Building and Growing with Nature

Earth builders and forest food gardeners who follow the permaculture principle of learning from the natural environment, observing patterns and using that to create  a design for the optimal needs for that environment, have got it right…

Bottom Line – We cannot fight with nature.  We tried that already and we’d be well to remember the Easter Island experience and how they decimated nature to create stone statues to their gods turning their home into an uninhabitable wasteland.

 Nature has much to teach us about harmonic and most productive design. 

The nature-harmonized earth house

We speak often of earth houses in general but there are many types of earth houses. What works in one environment superbly would be a disaster in another.

Naturally Right Building

Every style of natural building such as cob, log, straw bale, earth-ships, bamboo huts, houses on stilts, yurts and more, all evolved as a result of a direct relationship with and understanding of nature and natural design.

The design that works best for you is one that takes into account the natural ingredients of the specific location.  It may not always be the design you are locked into.

Early earth home builders studied the natural climate, land structure, soil type, vegetation and human and wildlife interactions and needs.

The Mandans of the Upper Missouri in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains designed log structures worked perfectly for and  with the natural contours and components of the Plains.

In the desert climes, thick-walled adobe structures painted white and thick walled serve the purpose of sheltering humans from the harsh sun and protecting them from colder extremes of temperature.  Damp is NOT an issue. Water was precious so they focused on water catchment and well systems.

 The log structure that works so well on the Plains won’t necessarily be as functional in hilly wetter climes without adaptation.   It is up to each builder to know how the area works by basing his design on what works in nature.

There is a harmonic building structure and design that is perfect for each unique climate and micro-climate and contour. 

 Evolving and Adapting

Given how bright we humans are and how much technology we have at our fingertips, we will quickly learn to adapt and evolve ways of earth building that take this into account.  Permaculturists are doing it already.

Edible food forest gardens mimicking nature

As students of permaculture and permaculturists know, nature has a perfect design for every part of the land.  The forests are living examples of eco systems.  By taking into account the natural design and what works, food forest gardeners learn the purpose  of patterns and structure and allow this to inform  their design. 

 They never try to impose a design that is contrary or counter-productive to natural workings because they know, in the end, it won’t be the most beneficial for nature or themselves.

They know they need canopy trees and they know they need ground cover. In the tropics mangos and coconut trees form the canopy layer whilst in Northern Georgia apple and pecan trees serve the same purpose.

In the same way when builders use natural designs and structures the structure is fluid enough so that someone building in wetter hilly lands can begin to devise a way to dam and reflow the water so that it doesn’t run back into and under the house. 

 Someone building in the desert of Nevada will design what works in a water-scarce desert. They won’t worry about excessive water flowing under or flooding the house because what little there is has been redirected to a water catchment system.

 The ultimate aim of both is to capture water without damaging the natural contours and flow.

 The Miracle of Nature-based Building

Mike Oehler, r-evolutionary author of  ‘The $50 & Up Underground House Book’, does not design cellars, mole holes or dark gloomy homes.  He designs homes that are functional and suited to the environment.

The home is constructed to reach below the frost line to protect the fragile structure from frost damage. 

It is a place where all the workings like pipes and wiring are underground in an easily accessible space.  This keeps them protected from freezing and other hazards of being exposed.  It also makes repairs and reworking easy as no structures have to be disturbed to get at the pipes and wires.

The merits of ‘underground’ housing are, according to Mike Oehler – author of ‘The $50 and up Underground House Book’ pretty fantastic.

If you are into natural building and could design and create an ‘earth’ home that is synchronized with the natural environment, and have all of these amazing facilities.. why would you choose any other way..????

Benefits of an ‘underground’ house

• No Foundation
• Less building material and labor
• Less Tax
• Warm in Winter, Cool in Summer
• Better view
• Built-in Greenhouse
• Ecologically sound
• Increased yard space
• Fallout Shelter
• Defensible
• Concealable
• Close to Source of Water
• Relatively fireproof
• Pipes never freeze
• Superior flooring
• Can be built by anyone
• Weatherproof
• Less maintenance
• Soundproof

We recommend this book and here’s our Amazon link to it.   

 The $50 and Up Underground House Book: [How to Design and Build Underground]

If you click here, and you do decide to buy, you are helping us as we re-route money energy from the machine towards supporting a more ecological cause!  Feed The Future – A food forest garden in every community is doable and could alleviate world hunger in 10 years.

Mimicing Nature is the Only Way

Builders who study the contours of the land, the rainfall, the flow of water or indeed where water, the position of the sun and all the natural ingredients, will design structures that work perfectly with nature and offer relative to that environment all of the above features. 

In Oehler’s book he points out all the mistakes people are making when they design earth houses and all the things they can do to create a successful, secure, warm, sound structure that utilizes the natural situation to the best advantage of all concerned including their needs.

For example he has come up with an amazing design for housing set against a hill.  He finds a way to avert the flow of water from the hillside, have it run down beside the house without ever reaching the house.  He describes how to create drains that naturally pull the water back into the house.  It’s not just a question of catching water or sloping roves, it’s creating roofs that contribute to the above qualities..

 His designs have been called ‘radical’, ‘revolutionary’ ‘unique’ unconventional’ ‘practical’ ‘masterpieces’.  

 They are based on pure physics and a study of natural design and purpose. 

For instance, It makes sense to have the kitchen garden, greenhouse as an extension of the kitchen and not an external entity. 

The greenhouse captures the suns rays while being protected by the house from winds.  In turn we get  easy accessibility to foodstuffs as they grow.  Nipping in and out of the greenhouse as you cook, you are more in tune with how it is growing and take more care of what’s there.. as it takes care of you by producing more abundant offerings.

 It makes sense in Tony Wrench’s underground house to grow grapes on the eaves of the house. The roof offers the grapes space to climb and protects the house while providing on tap food and with a little processing natural wine!

It makes sense to have a composting toilet that collects human waste and with very little effort other than facilitating natural process, it turns in to rich, natural fertilizer for the garden in less than two years.

It makes sense in some locales to have French drains that through a natural filtering and siphon system reclaim good water and direct it into the home.

 Forest Food Gardens – Natural Wonders

 Food Forest Gardeners observe what works in nature, how water flows and how to guide the water to where it is needed most and is kindest to the land.  

 They have a structure from nature of layers and inter-actions between different species for the greatest good.  They apply that structure to local specifics and as a result the forest becomes healthy, lush, self-sustaining and abundant. 

It makes sense to cover the ground with abundant, local herbs and beneficial plants because they offer not just nutritious food and medicine but also keep off invasions of unfriendly weeds.

It makes sense to plant mutually cooperative species because the system requires so much less maintenance after the early labours of reconnoitre, design and planting and pruning, the system starts to take care of itself and become independently inter-dependant.  The only ‘labor’ that remains is that of walking through the forest collecting the fruits – Tough eh!

It makes sense to let chickens run around in the forest [while protecting tomatoes from them!] and let them peck at fallen fruit and pests … while keeping down the tree pests, the chicken’s manure sows seeds and fertilizes the earth.

It makes sense to contour and dam water flow so that it is distributed in a natural way to where its needed most and away from where it can cause damage by accumulating.

So much of this just makes plain natural sense.   And all it takes is for us to get off our backsides and get into action.   We can’t argue with nature any more, so why not use her system to our advantage.

Here in the USA, the pioneer nature of the people is emerging to meet the needs of our changing times and the opportunities of re-contouring building and growing in a way that works for all perfectly. 

This spirit  genetically evolved and a part of our history, will save this nation.  When other countries, areas, look back to what worked and use what they know now to merge the two and alchemise new workable ideas.. the world will begin to flourish again.

 We simply have to stop being afraid, take that leap and JFDI

Recommended Books:

The $50 and Up Underground House Book: [How to Design and Build Underground]

 An introduction to permaculture (Design course series)

© 2010, Pierre Soleil. All rights reserved but relaxed Pierre Soleil We like to pass on the word so YOU are welcome to use this document in accordance with the Creative Commons license. That is, you can tweet, facebook, repost, excerpt and even adapt it so long as you include a pingback or link to this blog.