September 7th - hard labor day

Well, we are still hard at work on the garden dome project. It's almost a little lonely, considering the groups that I had on hand a week or so ago. But it's peaceful and serene after work-work, going out into the backyard to cut cables, etc.

This weekend, we put the door frame in. Dug the holes, cut the timbers, poured the concrete, leveled it out. We had to remove a few struts. The rest of the struts around the frame will be fully connected to the frame for added stability.


Over the course of last week I cut and fit pieces of cable wire and connected them to the anchor rebar. This will (hopefully) keep this thing tied down and not floating like a kite when heavy winds come.


It's time to start covering up the tires. I want the wall to be a thick earthen mass, like adobe you see in the south west. We have been mining for clay - and there is plenty of it if you are willing to work for it. This is a 100 gallon reservoir filled with clay and water. The clay needs to be in water for at least 24 hours if you want to use it in concrete or pottery or anything useful.


Here is Jim and Matt down in the hole. The hole at this point is around 7 feet deep and the clay down there is awesome.


This picture probably does not do it justice. There are all sorts of color differentiation in there. I would love to know what it all is. Pretty incredible stuff.