Books and New Pictures

I started using this blog b/c when I began planning the cob wall and the greenhouse I was reading a lot of other blogs to try and learn how to use specific techniques, solve problems, etc. I thought if I ended up doing anything interesting, it would only be fair to return the favor and share my methods. However, as I started building, I ended up relying more on books and now only really look at blogs to see cool pictures of other people's work. So, here's a list of books I haven't mentioned yet but have read and learned from:

Michael Reynolds:  Earthship, How to Build Your Own
Ianto Evans:  The Hand Sculpted House
Becky Bee:  The Cob Builder's Handbook
Joseph F. Kennedy, Michael Smith, and Catherine Wanek:  The Art of Natural Building
Mike Oehler:  Earth-Sheltered Greenhouse
Rob Roy:  Cordwood Building

And here are some pictures of the Greenhouse. Slab was layed in 8' sections with a sand&gravel/clay/cement mix. I mixed a wheelbarrow at a time and shoveled it into a form made from 2x4's. Each slab section has a sheet of chickenwire in the center. Slab is just sitting on top of the tire foundation. North wall is 18", east and west are 12". South wall is 18" but most of that will serve as an interior shelf; I'll set the windows on the outside edge of the slab. There are three rows of slate mortared together on top of the slab at the north, east, and west. Mortar is also sand/clay/cement (mix is roughly 3-1-1) with the gravel screened out and spread on the floor. The floor has 2 layers of landscaping fabric between the ground and the gravel. I built the first window frame for the east wall and started the first (northeast) stackwall corner. That's it so far!

View from west (with bottom of doorway frame)

View from South