The Phoenix

phoenix-earthship

[mm-insert-title]

What is possible


phoenix-statue

And finally we saw it, what is possible when a earthship greenhouse pushes the boundaries. Of course the Phoenix is a million dollar home, the finishes alone how years of painstaking work, but if instead of a single family rental with a mostly ornamental garden, it was a multi-occupancy model for communal living the greenhouse would be feeding 4-6 people fairly well. The blackwater botanical cell (the leach field of yesterday;s post) is actually inclosed in the greenhouse and there re a lot of thriving plants in the actual interior as well. With such a lush garden the greenhouse is beautifully humid rather than baking hot and with birds and fish in a pond with running water it feels more like an ecosystem. Perhaps these elements, as well as the hours put into this rental by the staff, are what help it thrive and remain pest and disease free.

It was truly heartening to see such a paradise after all the scraggly, unloved looking gardens of the intern housing. I don’t believe there was a single intern who wasn’t struck dumb by what they saw, of course there were the classic Mike Reynold excentricities like a fireplace that became a waterfall, raised bedrooms, underground walking in robes accessed by a spiral staircase and another bedroom screened by plants rather than a wall, it was rather playful and fun.


phoenix-entry

palm-exterior-greenhouse

greenhouse-ornamental-plants

water-running-coy-waterfeature

boganvillea

brad-window-greenhouse

mosaic-tiles

phoenix-fireplace

ily-pad-cushion-sofa

fireplace-decoration

raised-bedroom

reid-stair

blue-budgie-bird

DSCF9855

greenhouse-fan-roof-glass

fish-coy-pond

plastic-bottle-bricks

interipr-greenhouse-plants

waterfall-fireplace

joe-phoenix-kitchen

swing-madalyn-reid

rose-phoenix

sam-phoenix

chicken-earthship

greenhouse-exterior

chicken-house-tires

entry-buried-earth-retaining-wall

After the day was ended I visited Sam and Jason both tucked in bed for a nap, then heard Griffin and Joe drop by, after chatting with them, other Dan and other Jason with his infectious high pitched barking laugh arrived for a chat and a look at the Tower’s W.O.M. and stayed for a nice little rant I had bottled up about food security. They left and Reid came to take a photo of the bottle wall at sunset and we chatted about banana plants and permaculture and Briz arrived for a photo of the wall as well. Meanwhile Dylan was making surprisingly good camp stove pizza to share. It was all rather lovely, and made me realise as much as I felt ready to move on from this dusty place I would miss all the lovely interns I have shared the experience with. Two days to go.

What are your unforgettable experiences? Have you stayed in touch with the people you shared them with? Or were they a moment in time that burnt so bright then faded away?


Continue Reading

Leach field hijinks

sunrise-mountains

[mm-insert-title]

Down in the pit

Finally it was time to be done with aesthetic finishes and get involved in something I was really interested in, the leach field, I’m not your average gal. For me food and water are the keys to sustainability, a super comfortable and pretty stained glass bunker is all very nice, but in temperate Melbourne unnecessary to survival. Wouldn’t you agree? Most people I’ve talked to on the Mesa are more interested in the novelty of food growing with the ubiquitous banana plant and habitually take the 30-40 minute drive to town to stock up at CID’s. It just seems a little strange to me, a eco house with a greenhouse full of tropical ornamentals. It’s just the attitude to food of people everywhere I guess, but I didn’t expect it here. I’ve heard there is a guy called Danny here who is knee deep in humanure production and permaculture so I need to hunt him down.

Just because people don’t, doesn’t mean they can’t though.In the middle of the desert, the earthships can collect enough water and heat to grow year round. The black water system is not dissimilar to the grey water and they’re surprisingly simple so whilst I’ll refer you to the earthship website for particulars I’ll talk you through what we did.


site-level

The leach field is really as long as you can afford as materials and the price of excavation can be limiting. 40 feet long and 3 feet deep below the PVC pipe inlet from the septic system. We used the site level to ensure it sloped 6 inches from one end to another so the black water didn’t just pool at the inlet end.


reid-leach-field

We lined the pit with used plastic to prevent the EPDM waterproof membrane from getting holes. the membrane was cut so it was only a foot or so below the top of the hole. (Excuse the imperial, I’m not in metric land anymore.) We folded over an inch of the edge and nailed it to the pit’s earth walls making sure it was not too tight to avoid the nails ripping the membrane when it is weighed down with gravel and earth.


dylan-briz-wateproof-membrane

jerry-epdm-membrane

ron-nailing-epdm

jerry-briz-blackwater-inlet

the inlet brings in the blackwater, the solids have been separated out by the septic. It is very important that the overflow on the other end is lower than the inlet by at lest 4 inches to prevent blackwater flowing back into the building. The holes in the pipe allow the water to enter the leach field. It must be level and the “rock bulb” of river rocks holds the pipe in place.

In the grey water botanical cell the water from the basins and shower are filtered through the inlet by what use to be a woman’s stocking before entering the botanical cell, once it has gone through the rocks and plant roots it’s used to flush toilets, a pump is required for thisat the outlet end.


dylan-measuring-cutting-plastic-pipe-ron-evapo-transpiration-bed

jason-briz-pit

The perforated pipe is covered with plastic so the gravel doesn;t block the holes.



joe-digging-overflow

ron-pvc-pipe-perforated

joe-dylan-overflow-pipe

reid-ron-settng-up-outlet

jerry-rock-river-wall-pvc-pipe-inlet

pastries

jerry-eating-donuts

bear-claw-donut

jonne-jerry-pit

The waterproof membrane must be above the outlet pipe and when the whole is made in the membrane a clamping collar it fitted so water doesn’t leach under the liner.


joanne-outlet-pipe-river-rocks
gravel-drainage


gravel-truck-delivery

Then 2 feet of gravel for the black water to drain through.


reid-jerry-joe-sam-the-pit

jerry-straw

Then straw and sand to weigh it down. Then after this you can pretty much fill it like a no dig garden bed with compost, straw, etc. then when it’s finished they plant deciduous trees due to the harsh climate. It’s funny that if you don’t use enough water this system actually gets into trouble, people really need to know their house to have it working right, as it should be. Don’t flush too much without washing your hands or having a shower! That’s why the system would have to be modified for commercial use. Anyway that’s enough about blackwater, what of the intern shenanigans of the day?


jerry-jason-spreading-straw

dylan-spade-sand

joe-jeremy-wheelbarrow

Do as the weeks wore on the interns got tired of sand and dirt and there was a lot more hijinks on site between wheelbarrows full of mortar. When filling barrows with dirt stopped being fun Joe wheeled Jason around between breaks, Ron knew exactly the right time to deliver donuts to keep up moral and rocks became juggling balls.


json-juggling

soil-woodchips

concrete-mix

timber-beams-light

comcrete-fake-stones

jayjay-troughling-conrete-stepping-stone

vera-emmy-greenhouse

dylan-hadows-mardigras

shuttle-board

singer-band-alley-cantna

Then after a hard day in the dust we let our hair down at the Alley Cantina. Dancing to a live band and an introduction to shuttleboard; wordplay duels with a cowboy and rocking out to RESPECT by Aretha. Then home in high spirits with a slightly worse for wear Jason coming out of his shell and speaking in an Irish accent he didn’t have before and a penchant for touching people’s faces (how the hell did he keep his fingers so soft in this dry climate, tell me your secret!). It was all a great time, one of our best nights, but all things must be tempered with a little sobriety. Poor old “Minnesota, you betcha” Jason fell asleep in his chair at the Towers and clonked his eyebrow on the floor. Woken by a sheepish Sam we checked him for concussion and then when he checked out left him be too his incoherent grumbling, Good luck Sam. It was funny once we knew it wasn’t going to end in tragedy. Ah youths.



alley-cantina-band

Continue Reading

Sunset cobwebs

sunset-cobwebs

[mm-insert-title]

A dream in coloured bottles.


reflection-glass-window-complicated-shapes

coloured-bottle-wall-adobe

Every work day I walk through EVE. She is Gaudi reborn in earthship, not just in her lovely sinuous curves and embellishment, but because she has stood unfinished for years. There is something beautiful about her abandoned state, but sad too.

I have moved onto building a can and glass bottle retaining wall for the Simple Survival so I thought it would be nice to showcase the most beautiful use of those materials I have seen on the Sustainable Testing Site. EVE stands for Earthship Village Ecologies, an earthship geared towards housing a community rather than an individual or family. An idyllic world where Academy students grow food in a massive greenhouse on her southern face, joining the old world of the original earthship offices to the east to the classroom to the west. It’s a beautiful vision if they can pull it off, but at the moment other projects have diverted attention, money has been spent elsewhere, she is waiting.


light-shadow-play

can-silver-circles-tree-trunk

tree-trunk-pattern-render

stair-case-EVE

bottle-wall-sunset

Earthship-Village-Ecologies-building

ceiling-EVE-earthshop-bottles

blue-bottles-stair

EVE-earthship-south

Sustainable-Development-Testing-Sites

can-wall

interior-EVE

tire-wall

blue-beer-bottle

making-bottle-bricks-colour-taping-together

blue-bottle

blue-green-glass-bottle

cutting-glass-bottle-power-tool-saw-blae

madalyn-making-bottle-briks

Continue Reading

Bright Angel Trail

red-blue-sunrise

[mm-insert-title]

Descending into the Grand Canyon


early-morning-light-arizona

deer-running

Sunrise and only a hardy few braved the chill to join me in the pink glow. With my eyes pinned to the horizon I almost missed the deer that appeared at my feet and then with our faces mirrored in startlement I stood frozen whilst it bounded away, up out of the canyon and pranced between the cabins.

Like a strung out line of pensioners we faltered down the icy path. Those without poles clinging to one another, fearing an embarrassing slide on their rear more than tumbling down the steep cliff edge. Half an hour earlier Dylan, on his morning jog, choose a more dignified glide down the trail, running shoes acting as skis.

Blue birds fluttered against a backdrop of pink rock, whilst the sun rose and turned paths, for a moment, into dripping streams. The cliffs echoed with shouts, squirrels gathered and contrails etched into a brilliant blue sky.


sunrise-grand-canyon

rocky-mounds
craggy-cliff


shrubs-squirrel
contrail-sky-above-canyon


blue-green-pink

squirrel-eating

icy-waterfall

mule-tour-grand-canyon

winding-trail
mule-tourists


mule-train
face-rock-formation


ice-canyon-winter-february

pibe-trees-cliff

snow-rocks-path

paths-winding-down-hill

panorama-grand-canyon

blue-bird-orange-pink-cliff

flapping-bird
cactus-rocks


succulent-high-above-valley
shadows-hills


squirrel-cliff-edge

bright-blue-bird-tree

seed-flower-heads

red-cliff-face

watchtower-grand-canyon

door-stone-watchtower

ceiling-watchtower

grasses-arizona
stair-watchtower


view-watchtower-arizona
icy-grpund-grand-canyon-winter


river-blue-grand-canyon

joanne-grand-canyon

puppy-dog-grand-canyon

Continue Reading
1 8 9 10 11 12 32