D e s e r t E x p o s u r e
July
2008
Permaculture - Living Without the Lawn
Page: 2Off to one side is a covered workshop area where she has been experimenting with some earth plastering materials and techniques, in preparation for upcoming workshops. She digs her hands into a bucket of earth to show what the participants will be working with, here at her home in the coming weeks.
"I wanted to give them an example of earth plastering," she says, picking up a slab of straw caked with a brown-gray layer, on which she has formed a raised design. "This protects the straw wall, making it impervious to the elements. It's all natural and it's completely effective."
Pawlicki then leads the way past the work shed and a garage to the very back of her property. Here, a concrete wall has been erected, embedded spikes of re-bar sticking up.
"This is the stem wall for my straw-bale wall we are going to build," she says. "The stem wall keeps the straw one foot up off the ground to keep the straw dry."
Pawlicki has a long background in ecology and has been a builder for more than 20 years. She notes that she's worked with a natural building technique called "cob" construction and with conventional frame building, but never before with straw.
Back in her house, she shows some examples of alternative building materials — papercrete, e-crete and the like. She holds up a white building block, which looks for all the world like a block of concrete, then playfully tosses it to show how light it is.
Above her small display of materials and photos of some natural building work she or colleagues of hers have done hangs a painting of a beautiful, airy home.
"That's my house in Michigan," she says. "It's a passive solar home. Now that backyard was something completely different to work with, and very rewarding, as well. Talk about the opposite of the high desert! There certainly was no water shortage; it was very moist. And here we have so much sun to use and enjoy. There (in Michigan) it's much shadier, so you are looking to grab all the sun you can!"
Working with the elements — not against them — and using alternative building materials can be extremely cost efficient, Pawlicki points out. She got the straw for her wall for around $10 a bale.
She adds that pioneers in the field of natural building are now working with officials at establishing codes that allow for more building with green alternatives.
"Not only do these materials cost less and not only are they better for the earth, but they allow for more creativity in building, too," Pawlicki says. "Every structure can be a sculpture, a reflection of the homeowner's and the designer's creativity."
Pawlicki says her immediate goals are to get more people interested in and learning how to implement permaculture in their own homes and yards. Response to her workshops has been good, and associations with local groups and experts have been rewarding and show promise for a growing eco-movement locally.
And along with her active slate of summer workshops, she's also looking to offer a workshop or two this fall in affordable adobe building — in Peru.
"That's right," she says with a smile. "I have another backyard in Peru!"
For workshop details and for more information about Hi-Desert Sustainable Living, contact Patricia Pawlicki, 956-8122, indigothea@hotmail.com
Donna Clayton Lawder is senior editor of Desert Exposure.