Day by Day, Bag by Bag

It has been quite awhile since I’ve last posted and in that time we have accomplished a bunch! Day after day, typically 6 days a week for 6-8 hours a day, we’ve been bagging for the past two months. We’ve gone through 5.5 truck loads of dirt, hundreds of gallons of water, and 2.5 rolls of barbed wire. We began this process having completed hours of research on Earthbag building and techniques and now two months later feel we could write our own book with tips and what not to do’s. It has been an evolving process, but so far successful and exhausting. Though I must be getting stronger as I am not quite as tired at the end of the day as I was in the beginning. It must be all the coconut ice cream I’ve been guilt-free consuming each night!

We started out with Josh and I, then added a friend or two a few days a week. Now that the walls are above our heads we have a minimum of three people working everyday- two people filling one bag and another mixing dirt. One of us stands on the wall or a ladder and the other hands that person mixed dirt scoop by scoop. We’ve got a system down now and it moves impressively quickly when we have five of us as we’ve had for the past couple of weeks.

Early in the month beams went in on the south-side to support our wall of windows. A few rows later additional window frames in the bedroom and bathroom were installed. We now get to skip every space for a door and window. That cut the distance we’d have to lay bags immensely.

In the beginning we set a goal- finish bagging within the first week of August. I felt it was a lofty goal but one that had to be set. The bags need at least one month to dry (cure) before any chance of freezing. Yes… I now live in a place where there is a good chance of it freezing by early September. It is crazy to think that Fall is almost upon us now that August is so close, where in Austin, TX August is the epitome of HOT. But I sure do love it here and am constantly overwhelmed with excitement that I get to live here.

Back to the house, we only have a few more rows to go! And within a few days we hope to install the floor joists for the 2nd floor/loft. In the beginning when I realized how physically demanding filling the bags would be I wasn’t sure if we’d make it and I was dreaming of the day we’d be done. Though we aren’t done yet, it became a routine I got used to. Start at 10, bag till 6, shower, eat, eat ice cream, and sleep. Repeat. Day by day, bag by bag. Then we took a few days off from bagging (while our foundation was being backfilled) and I found myself almost missing the progress and how tired I was at the end of the day. Now that it is within sight I’m already thinking of the next thing we can build with Earthbags.

Window beams and bedroom window: