Alternative building techniques from New Mexico - Three

Today we'll look more at the little B&B where we stayed two nights for our visit to the 

Earth Ships, Taos NM, and even a trip to Santa Fe in 2019.

Shades are available to control the amount of sunlight coming in the windows. Of course

 solar panels help with electricity.

Nice landscaping was done on the approach to the house.

You can see part of the roof has a garden.

This was the first week in Sept. 2019. Lots of nice indigenous plants in the entrance area.

There's a lot of desert out there! Many strange looking buildings are all around.

And inside our earth ship B&B.

My bedroom was in the living/dining area...but a nice big comfy bed was fine for me.

Zora is my grandpup

The cord coming down from the ceiling leads to a vent which can be opened or closed.

I don't travel all that light, with a C-PAP machine and nebulizer too. But see that paper map book on top of my laptop under the pink bag? It came in handy a bit, because out in the desert sometimes there was no signal to find where we were going. Once we went east into the mountains rather than west to the Earth Ship B&B. Eventually we figured out that we were going the wrong way!

Nice small functional bath...

King size bed for the bedroom.  All the windows face south for passive solar heating, and there are small gardens right below them, watered with grey water (sink).

Another vent in ceiling for passive temperature control.

Son and daughter-in-law fixed something to take along on our drive down to Santa Fe. Of course Zora came too, but stayed in the car while we visited the O'Keefe Museum. 

Today's quote:

Solitude, though it may be silent as light, is like light, the mightiest of agencies; for solitude is essential to man. All men come into this world alone; all leave it alone.

 -Thomas De Quincey, writer (15 Aug 1785-1859)  

Anyone interested in the resistance...here's a great source of various videos and more links!

https://wendy-welch.com/2024/11/25/the-monday-books-and-other-resources/

Alternative building techniques from New Mexico - two

 From my post several years ago when I visited my son and his wife in New Mexico, where we toured Earth Ships.

This was the Earth Ship headquarters, and having slept in one at a B&B for 2 nights, we had a free tour. For more information visit this link https://www.earthshipglobal.com

The tour starts...

We're going inside the largest structure here.

 This earth ship had to stop its construction due to some permit no longer being approved...and the guide said that with the political situation now, it is unlikely to be approved soon. (He didn't give any details.) This was planned to be a dorm for students/workers learning how to build earth ships.

Though the building is incomplete, it can still be used for gardening. This is a compost process.

These windows just have a double layer of plastic on them.

This fig tree had some fruits!

And some other buildings on the site.

There are a dozen or so buildings built here. This was our guide.

The building where students stay while learning how to build earth ships, had a little kitchen area.

My friends, Sue and Geoff Stone, built their own Earth Ship home here in Black Mountain at an intentional community, known as Earth Haven. I've visited it several years ago, and it reminded me so much of what I saw in New Mexico. 

Today's quote:

The earth
laughs in flowers.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson   

I've one more post about these Earth Ships, namely the B&B where we stayed for this adventure.

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This is the big news in Hurricane Helene recovery for Black Mountain NC...

“The City of Asheville has lifted the Boil Water Notice for all water customers as of 11 a.m. today, November 18.

Water Resources lab staff finished sampling the distribution system early Sunday afternoon, and results have confirmed that the water supply is free from contaminants. "

Alternative building techniques from New Mexico - One

 A repost because I wanted to share this "off the grid" kind of construction again.

This was the Earth Ship headquarters, and having slept in one at a B&B for 2 nights, we had a free tour. For more information visit this link https://www.earthshipglobal.com  I'll share our B&B in a few weeks.

Much of the space is take up with gardening inside of the floor to ceiling south-facing windows. we were quite interested in them, as my daughter-in-law is involved in earth-friendly-agriculture.

Tai and Kendra are interested in some of the environmentally friendly aspects of Earth Ships...not that they plan to live in one. They were thinking of building a home at that time, but have since moved into one that just needed a bit of fixing-up.

The concepts, engineering, and innovations are amazing.

A plant which is regenerating itself.

This fig plant didn't have figs...but wait till the tour!

but this bouganvilla had flowers. I was glad to see beauty was planted as well as veggies.

High above were trays in a sunny site for food to be dehydrated.

The use of bottles and cans as spacers in concrete walls gives another use of beauty while 

decreasing the use of the concrete and it stays strong. There will be much more evidence of this technique on next week's post on the tour.

Today's quote:

If you feel abandoned or cut off from Spirit, know that it is always there for you waiting for you to plug back in.