Stem wall

This extension of the foundation is necessary to prevent the straw bales from becoming damp. Each bag is packed with a damp clay rubble mixture, tamped and layed into position then marked by a string line pulled tight and levelled.

Many hours of back breaking work!

Any of the books hubby is using for reference recommend using barbed wire between the bags to stabilise them, mainly for earthquake tremors. As this is not a large dwelling and we're not in an earthquake zone and are on a tight budget (the brief was free or recycled products), he made large foot long staples from fencing wire that was left on this property when we moved here, and drove them into the bag below as shown.

Which brings us to March 20th. A doorway has been put into place and tomorrow another farmer is delivering a couple of straw bales to try for size so it's getting exciting! Will post some more soon.