Natural building & Wild food experience week
The July celebrations have been such a huge success that we have decided to continue them on into August and September. With the wild food in full bloom we have added wild food foraging and organic food production to the schedule.
Get inspired, get creative and get your hands dirty
Each week we will be looking for participant to come and enjoy a volunteering week and experience all the magic, creativity and fun The Art Farm has to offer. You will have the opportunity to learn and experiment with many natural building techniques and learn about wild foods whilst enjoying all the romance of summer in France.
Natural building Earthen Floor – Earthen floors are beautiful, durable, warm, easy to repair, and non-toxic. They are the cheapest and most eco-friendly flooring possible. Constructed with a mixture of sand, finely chopped straw and clay found in abundance in The Art Farm soil, mixed to a thickened consistency and spread with a trowel on a sub-surface such as concrete. Once dry, it is then saturated with several treatments of a drying oil.
The structure is built up of a drainage layer, insulation, in-floor radiant heat tubing, topped with compacted earth/cob layers and finished with a coating of linseed oil and beeswax to create a protective waterproof shiny surface.
Throughout July we will be creating two earthen floors in different stages so no matter what time of the month you are here you will get to see the whole process.
Stage 1 – Preparing the space, drainage layer and installing the lime/straw insulation.
Stage 2 – Mixing and laying the cob and applying the linseed oil top coat.
Not only will you get the opportunity to build the floor you will also learn how to mix and make the materials required.
Straw bale & cob sculptural wall - Straw-bale construction is a building method that uses straw bales as structural elements, insulation, or both. It has advantages over some conventional building systems because of its cost, easy availability, and its high insulation value. It is also a very eco-friendly method and allows for a lot of creative freedom with its flexibility in shape and form and can be finished using various earthen materials.
We will be creating a beautiful curved sculptural wall using a combination of many eco-building techniques and artistic influences to enhance and accentuate the natural beauty of the 250 year old interiors. Lime pointing - Like the restoration of a Michelangelo painting experience the magic of returning the works of the old stone masters from 250 years ago back to their original beauty. Accentuating the raw natural forms of the traditional French building with lime techniques lost in time.
Restoration will take place in the 75 m2 cave (French cellar) with domed cellings. The lime pointing workshop will be running all month and you will gain plenty of hands on experience in the use of lime.
Cob rocket stove - A Rocket stove is a highly efficient type of wood-burning cooking stove. It is easy to construct, with low-cost materials. These are low-mass stoves designed to burn small pieces of wood very efficiently. Cooking is done on top of a short insulated chimney. The stoves are typically constructed out of trash: tin cans, old stovepipes.They use branches, twigs, small wood scraps, or just about any small combustible material. The pieces of wood or other material burn at their tips, increasing combustion efficiency, creating a very hot fire, and eliminating smoke. The low-mass stove body and insulated chimney assure that the heat goes into the cooking pot, not into the stove. Rocket stoves used in conjunction with hayboxes can save enormous amounts of fuel, cooking complete meals while using very few resources.
At The Art Farm we will be creating an innovative rocket stove using recycled materials, vermiculite insulation, cob and lime. It will not only be used to cook food but also to heat the attached buildings through integrated radiant heat tubes.
Organic food production & Wild food foraging
Throughout August and September volunteers will have the opportunity to learn how to produce organic jams and juices. This season there are wild strawberries, raspberries, elderberries and gooseberries ready for harvesting. Learn to forage and collect fruits in the surrounding fields and forests and make them into delicious organic produce. Plus every morning you will have the opportunity to feast on the delicious jams harvested last season and other meals will include many delicious vegetables from our garden.
Explore the south of France
The natural building and wild food weeks will be jam packed with activities but there will also be lots of free time to relax amongst the beautiful French landscapes of the Ardeche. An area that is well known for its excellent hiking, cycling and canoeing trails, picturesque villages, historic caves, rolling vineyards, quaint local markets full of traditional French delicacies and its fast-flowing river that has carved narrow gorges into the valley creating one of the most breathtaking canyons in France. The area surrounding The Art Farm is particularly spectacular for photography with the magnificent sunrises/sets and 360 degree mountainous views.
