https://3speak.tv/watch?v=calendulacraft/jvforiwt
## Hello homesteading community!

And welcome to a new building vlog. This is a place where I share the latest improvements on the two room house that my partner and I have been working on for a year. With this video I wanted to focus on the philosophy behind WHY we chose to build with natural materials rather than 100 % modern ones.

Reason one : natural materials are more abundant in nature. And, for the most part, they do not require big industries to produce. At times we have sourced earth from the road and sand & rocks from the creek. Other times we have ordered sand and earth from a nearby river. We did use some cement in this build, we tried to keep it minimal because the cement industry is so destructive to the environment.

Another reason is that earthen walls are both sound proof and very thermal. Their mass keeps the house warm in winter and cool in summer. And they block out a lot of sounds from our rural neighborhood.

The last reason is that natural building is very DIY-friendly. Neither of us are architects or pro builders. But, we do have a few years of experience which is enough to build all that we have, mostly by ourselves.

Many thanks to Uritan Musica for creating the theme song and for helping me record the voice over!

https://3speak.tv/watch?v=calendulacraft/kfvriugfoq

Each and every spring I collect baskets of roses buds and petals to dry. Some of them I put into packets to sell and others I keep in jars for herbal purposes. One of my favorite uses for rose petals is to make an herb infused oil. Herbal oils are great ways to apply the medicine of the herbs directly to the skin. People make such oils with Calendula flowers as well as St.Johnswort.

In this short video I will share with you how I make rose oil with only a few ingredients:

All you need is: dried roses (or rose petals), the oil of your choice, and a clean glass jar with an equally clean lid. Whenever we are adding anything to oil it is really important that there is no extra humidity. That is why making sure the roses are totally dry is so important and also why I emphasize using a clean, dry jar and lid.

I filled the jar to just about halfway with my fragrant rose petals. Not packed in, just loosely set into the jar. I collect the rose petals myself, from the forest around where I live. That way I can be sure they at they have never been sprayed with herbicides or pesticides. I am sure that wherever you live you can find an organic source for rose petals or buds. You do not want to use roses that have come from a bouquet because they are almost assuredly NOT organically grown and the chemicals they use to grow ornamental roses will not be good to put on your skin.

As for the oil there are many options. I tend to use coconut or almond oil, but I also like jojoba oil. This time I used almond and simply poured it over the dried herbs until it was nearly full, leaving just a bit of room at the top because the dried herbs will soak up the oil and expand.

This jar will steep for a month to 6 weeks in a dark corner of my herbal apothecary before I strain it out and separate the herbal mater from the infused oil. I am hoping that the oil will take on the rose-y tint of the darkest roses and will certainly take up some of the medicinal qualities of roses. Roses are very calming for the skin, helping soothe irritation from rashes and heal pimples and scar marks.

I usually keep this oil in a small dropper bottle in the bathroom to use directly on my face, neck, hands, and arms after a shower. Kind of like a massage oil. It only takes a few minutes to apply and leaves me feeling calm and cared for. I really recommend it!

https://3speak.tv/watch?v=calendulacraft/smxynmurmq

Here I am, once again, sharing updates of our DIY build. Yestersay my man informed me that we will be working on this house for two more years. That is his opinion, we will see! Be it next year or in two years that we finally get to live here, I am enjoying the process of building AND of documenting our work.

And so, I want to start today's blog post with a video clip I made the other day:

The idea was to share that yes, we are building with mostly natural materials but we are by no means purists. We have used bits of plastic, plenty of metal, industrialized windows and even spray foam to make this a modern mud home.

And at this phase we are elbows deep in the mud. The first layer of plastering is about 70% done. Still, there are lots of awkward places to fill in and tons of smoothing out to do. This little loft was a semi-last minute addition. We have three cats and want to build a house where they have plenty of space to walk around & play. The idea is that if we give them their own, custom space, they won't be so inclined to lay on my desk and sleep in my baskets of fabric and herbs. This loft is just above the fire place and connects via a catdoor to an outdoor space specially designed for them.

While Jona (my partner 💚) takes care of climbing the ladder to get to those hard to reach places, I am in charge of making the mix and smoothing out all the bumbs in the walls. Mostly, I enjoy it but it does take a lot of strength, mud gets heavy and pushing a piece of wood over & over a wall for hours a day gets tiring. I really admire people who have the strength to do this for a living. Never before have I appreciated my desk/candle making jobs as I do after an afternoon spent at the build.

https://3speak.tv/watch?v=calendulacraft/qfzfzhpwny

Things are really moving along with our DIY earthen home. The outside of the house is completely covered with the first layer of plastering, and now we are moving on to the inside of the house. After weeks of working mornings & afternoons, rarely taking even one day off, we are now moving at a slower pace. I am enjoying the process and my partner is recovering from a cold. We are both super happy with everything we have done so far, even despite the knowledge that there is still so much more to do.

I have also been sharing images & videos on my personal instagram page. While I generally try to stay away from mainstream social media, it feels important to me to share with people I grew up with, family, and friends who all live in my home country. I live far, far away from all of them but it feels good to keep them in the loop.

I also have another motive, I want to show them (and you, and the world) that building a modern mud house is possible. That sculpting our house out of mud is not only an act of survival but also a creative project. From that idea came this little video clip:

At this phase of the build we feel like we are "on time" and also have the time to slow down. I am enjoying the process, taking time to film & create media about the joys of working with earthen plasters.

Homesteading isn't all fun, and building with your partner/spouse isn't always easy. I want to celebrate the wins with some mineral water and a handful of berries. Then ... back to work!

https://3speak.tv/watch?v=calendulacraft/jravlqks
Finally the day we have been waiting for! It is time to get our feet muddy and make plaster with 100 % natural ingredients.

In this video I will be sharing how my partner and I are creating beautiful walls with just a few simple ingredients, found anywhere on earth.

Here are the exact proportions of the earthen plaster we make in this video:

The size of the bucket is up to you, just be sure to use the same bucket to measure all the different ingredients.

There are so many different ways to make earthen plaster, this one is the first plastering over which we will add a finer plaster in a few weeks. So stay tuned for a future video all about that.

https://3speak.tv/watch?v=calendulacraft/xfjjrdmg
There are dozens and dozens of techniques for building with natural materials. In this video I want to share one of them, a technique common in South America called Quincha.

We used local earth/mud, straw, and water to fill in the walls of our house. Compared to pretty much any phase of the project, using quincha has been fast and fun. Check out the video for the entire process.

https://3speak.tv/watch?v=calendulacraft/jstxkofu
In planetary mysticism this day is associated with Venus (or, Freya who many consider to be the Nordic version of Venus/Aphrodite). Usually I celebrate Venus with a simple ritual of lighting a candle at night on Friday and maybe even pouring her a small cup of whatever it is I am drinking. Today though, I wanted to start out in the morning and filmed certain elements of my process.

I decorated her altar with roses and zinnias and then went out to harvest bundles of rosemary. Rosemary is one of those herbs that different people associate with different planets or deities. While rosemary certainly does have a strong link with the sun (and Apollo), I personally use rosemary in beauty rituals so the link with Venus is just as strong.

Also, my online shop is strongly associate with beauty, witchcraft, and herbalism and named after this lovely goddess. So, my day to harvest herbs for the shop is very often Friday morning, when my man is off at work and a very feminine energy descends on our home. Lately I have been inspired to create something totally new - something I have never done before - for my store and think that rosemary will be a big part of that. More details coming soon!

https://3speak.tv/watch?v=calendulacraft/gogvlnmi
For years and years Jona and I have been dreaming of building our own house with our own hands. About two years ago we got the chance to make our dream a reality. And while this experience has been very challenging, I know it will pay off in the end, once we live in the humble house of our dreams.

Our two room home is far from finished. You could even say we have just begun! There is tons left to do but, plenty to collage together a video of videos, photographs, and reflections about our process of natural building in the modern day.

https://3speak.tv/watch?v=calendulacraft/uezoanzj
Crataegus spp. - otherwise known as Hawthorn - has been a staple in my herbal apothecary for years. I use both the flowering tops and the berries in herbal teas and other preparations. Today I want to focus on the berries which are in season in fall and are a main ingredient in the simple syrup I will be making in this video.

https://3speak.tv/watch?v=calendulacraft/mrqxivsn
This weekend I had a few orders of candles to package and decided to capture the process in a video. I have seen small business owners do this before: film behind-the-scenes aspect of their business in order to show the how truly handmade their offerings are.

I guess the idea is that while some people are totally okay with AI-everything, others are longing for more handmade culture both in the products they buy and on their social media feed. I am adopting this philosophy too. So, here it is, a little peak at how I carefully package an order of 12 candles, plus a few extras too.

P.S. the context words are in Spanish because, my business is based in Argentina!