Internships & Worktrade

Would you love to …

Experience more connection with Nature?

Explore a wide variety of Natural Building & Sustainability Skills?

Be immersed in a Living, Building Community?

Consider the 20117 / 2018 INTERNSHIPS & Worktrade !

Attend one or more months at the Strawbale Studio outside Oxford, Michigan, USA. Openings are available April through September and for the January Winternship.
Come as an Intern, 1/2 Pay Worktrader or Wwoofer / Poosher. *

Winternship 2015 Crew

Earth Plastering

The 2017 Program includes a lifestyle of sustainability.

Shade-tree classes will be taught on components of natural building ~ foundation, framing, strawbale, cob and use of local materials ~ accompanied by tours of the structures on site.
Hands-on activities will focus on earth plastering & sculpting, earthen floors, oil finishes on benches, detailing of living roofs, site hydrology & creative landscaping and permaculture projects. There will be some variation between months based on progress.
Daily Lifestyle includes foraging, spoon-carving, fermenting, composting, solar oven, outdoor rocket cooker, earth oven, shiitake mushroom production & more. Buildings on site are the Strawbale Studio, Kids Cottage, Hobbit Sauna, Spiral Chamber and several pretty awesome woodsheds. Living roofs, Thatched roofs.

Community connections: Monthly Full Moon Potluck & bonfire, Permaculture Meetup (off-site), 1 or 2 workshops or tours per month for the public. We have local farmers, and get our eggs and some of our produce from them.

Worktrade activities for 1/2 Pay WorkTraders and Wwoofers at Strawbale Studio are Grounds: firewood, repair, lawn. Office: data, editing, publicity. Garden: planting, mulching, watering & harvesting. Other: repair canoe, solar dehydrator.

The Strawbale Studio is a place, and also a program with Internships, Classes & Outreach…seeking to joyfully weave into the Web of Life ! This is a uniquely rich experience.

LOCATION
On this beautiful rural wooded land 1 hour North of Detroit. Six miles outside a lovely small town, surrounded by farms, forests and meadows. Within 6 miles of the Strawbale Studio there are some very nice outdoor opportunities: Bald Mountain Recreation Center, The Seven Ponds Recreation Center and the Rails to Trails bike path system, connecting several small towns. (There is a bike available to use). Two swimming lakes and a series of connected lakes to explore by canoe.

INSTRUCTION
Main Instructor & Coordinator, Deanne Bednar, is the illustrator of the Hand-Sculpted House & the Natural Plaster Book, and has 20 years of experience in natural building. Background: Art & Sustainable Futures teacher at the middle school level. Loves to forage, use materials directly from nature in an artful and practical way !
Other instructors sometimes drop in: Micah Lindquist, our round pole and spoon carving teacher, Jim the Timberframer, a local guy who can show us his barn and tools. Jared Bogdonov-Hanna a Permaculture Teacher who has designed some of the gardens on site. Rick McAvinchy Forester & Wildlife Biologist. Chris McClellan, “uncle mud”….. Ernie & Erica, rocket-stovers.

* GREEN EXCHANGE

3 Program Options: Intern, 1/2 Pay Worktrade, Wwoofer. All 3 Programs include room & board, classes & materials, plus sharing of household activities such as cooking & cleaning.

Intern = Focus on the Projects. Cost per month $950 or $850 prepaid 1 month in advance.
1/2 Pay Worktrade = 10 hours Worktrade per week toward upkeep (office, grounds, gardens, based on participants skills & needs of Strawbale Studio). The rest of the time, participate in the Internship & all classes. Cost per month: $475 or $425 prepaid 1 month in advance.
Wwoofer = 20 hours Work-trade per week toward maintenance of gardens, grounds, office. The rest of the time participate in the Internship & all classes. No money exchanged. No wwoofing option during the Winternship or Intensive Classes.

Brief APPLICATION FORM
EXPECTATIONS for living and working together. READ OVER – see if it is a fit!
DETAILS on Worktrade & Wwoofing
WHAT PAST INTERNS HAVE TO SAY
2016 ARCHIVE of Projects & Worktrade

2018 Programing starts with the Winternship !

A month long live-in program from Jan 7 to Feb 7, 2018. Tentative dates.

This unique & fun course will in reed bundling clude

4 Weekend Workshops for Wintern and the Public Thatching Jan 13 & 14. Round Pole Jan 20+21, Rocket Stove 27 & 28, Earth Plaster & Sculpting Feb 3 & 4.

Community Events
Jan 10 Permaculture Meetup, Jan 31 Full Moon Potluck and Bonfire.

During the week : Natural Building & Sustainability Activities + 2 days off.

Check out previous years Winternship ! 2016 Winternship Activities List Winternship 2016: Thatching Winternship 2016: Week 1 2015 Winternship Outline & Schedule Winternship 2015 Blog & Pics Pictures below are from previous years’ adventures.