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Cob Oven (Portland, OR)

Cob Oven Portland

Load-bearing strawbale shed (Port. OR)

straw bale house

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earthen hand shop

For Earthen Hand
Tees, email us.

Scott Howard "Regenerative Design promotes peace."

Earthen Hand Workshops

About Our Workshops

Testimonials

Workshop Schedule

• Earthen Plasters and PaintsSummer 2025, TBD    
• DIY Tiny Home WorkshopSummer 2025, TBD    
• Cob Oven WorkshopSummer 2025, TBD    
• Reciprocal Roof ConstructionSummer 2025, TBD    
• Catalan Vault WorkshopSummer 2025, TBD    


To Register, or get more information, Email us at: scott@earthenhand.com



Get 10% off on your second course!

(Please note that tuition payments, once made, are 100% non-refundable. Caveat Emptor. All rights reserved.)

Our courses are designed to be accessible to most skill levels. Students will learn cumulatively if they attend several workshops.

Ask us about individual Apprenticeships tailored to your interests.

Take a look at the Earthen Hand You Tube Channel and our Facebookpage

Below is our most up to date workshop schedule. Also, please join our mailing list via the home page.

Earthen Plasters and Paints
Summer 2025, TBD — Terra Vida Academy, Vernonia, OR

In this 2-day workshop, Learn the sublime art of traditional clay plasters. Plus learn how to make and apply all-natural earthen paints. The end result is a super smooth, colorful, and sculptural wall limited only by your imagination! You'll come away with the skills to source, mix, and apply earthen plasters and paints. They can be applied to wide variety of walls, including drywall, wood, concrete, adobe, strawbale, and more.

$500. 2-days. To initiate your registration, please email us HERE.

Class size limited to 10 people. Tea and snacks provided. Ages 14+ (youth must be accompanied by a parent/gaurdian).

DIY Tiny Home Workshop
Summer 2025, TBD — Portland, Oregon

This 4-day DIY Tiny Home class is for anyone considering building a tiny home. Don't let people tell you it can't be done! You can do it! By learning to build your own tiny home, you can save more than $30,000+ on labor alone. Plus we will save you countless hours in regards to understanding building codes, materials, tools, and techniques. We ensure a minimal, eco-friendly design that will operate with superior efficiency. Most importantly, you will have fun learning how to do it with other folks just like you! Whether you have no building experience or a ton, we will show you how to get it done right!

$995. 4-days. To initiate your registration, please email us HERE.

Class size limited to 10 people. Tea and snacks provided. Ages 18+.

Cob Oven Workshop
Summer 2025, TBD — Terra Vida Academy, Vernonia, OR

2-day Cob Oven Workshop Course Description:

Join us for a hand-on, immersive 2-Day Cob Oven Workshop where you'll learn the art of building a durable, efficient, and beautiful wood-fired cob oven from scratch! Guided by natural building / bioarchitect Scott Howard of Earthen Hand Natural Building, this workshop will take you through every step of the process - from foundation design to firing up your fist meal. No matter your age or abilities, this workshops is for you! It's a fun way to connect with like minds and get grounded in the adobe.

Cob ovens are an ancient, sustainable, and versatile way to bake bread, roast vegetables, cook pizza and more - all using locally sourced natural materials. By the end of this class, you'll have the skills and confidence to build your own cob oven at home, sung simple tools and techniques that have been refined over centuries.

$500 tuition. To initiate your registration, please email us HERE.

Class size limited to 10 people. Tea and snacks provided. Ages 14+ (youth must be accompanied by a parent/guardian).

Reciprocal Roof Construction
Summer 2025, TBD — Terra Vida Academy, Vernonia, OR

The reciprocal roof design allows each rafter to rest on the next one in a continuous self-supporting whirl. It's an ingenious method that comes from the indigenous people of North America, and has gained immense popularity in natural building circles recently due to its efficiency and beauty.

Join us for a 1-day workshop where you will learn to construct this remarkable roof style with your own hands. Connect with like minds and make some fun memories!

$250. 1-day. To initiate your registration, please email us HERE.

Class size limited to 10 people. Tea and snacks provided. Ages 18+.

Catalan Vault Workshop
Summer 2025, TBD — Portland, OR

Discover the art of the traditional Catalan vault method, a centures-old technique that creates stunning, self-supporting structures using only bricks and mortar. In this immersive 2-day workshop, you'l learn the fundamentals of this eco-friendly building method through hands-on practice under the guidance of expert instructor Scott Howard.

The catalan vault method uses thin bricks mortared together on end to form incredibly durable and gracile arched structures that are waterproof and stand the test of time. Also known Timbrel vaults, Guastavino vaults, or Mao Pla in Catalan meaning 'flat brick'. Students will learn the history of the technique, physics of thin shell structures, selecting materials, constructing the lightweight curve form, assembling bricks into the arc, and finishing the structure with a natural waterproof coating. No prior experience required.

$500. 2-days. To initiate your registration, please email us HERE.

Class size is limited to 10 people. Tea and snacks provided. Recommended ages 18+.

Photos of a few workshops

Earthbag workshop photos Jamaica

Hot tub workshop photos Hawaii

Earth Oven workshop photos Puerto Rico

Earthbag workshop photos Portland, OR

About Earthen Hand Workshops

A growing number of people are interested in natural building, bioarchitecture, and permaculture. Our workshops seek to empower people with information and hands-on instruction for a self-reliant, ecological lifestyle.

We are dedicated to educating people about natural building and appropriate technologies. Workshops focus on skills, information, and intuition that allow a builder to create within the natural harmony. Each workshop includes hands-on training, discussion, and lecture. We feel that anyone who attends our workshops will continue to learn and teach technologies of global self-empowerment.

Potential workshop hosts can contact us by email at: workshops@earthenhand.com. Our ideal workshop is cooperatively organized, delivering quality education while completing a useful structure at an affordable price for everyone.

Our local workshops provide:

  • Hands-on learning in earthen building techniques
  • Useful and beautiful structures that cooperate with their surrounding landscape

Our international workshops:

  • Create a positive cross-cultural exchange
  • Train participants in earthen building techniques
  • Provide international communities with needed structures that cooperate with their surroundings
Earthbag dome workshop in Thailand, 2004 Earthbag dome workshop in Thailand, 2004

Testimonials

"The Everything Earthen class is a great hands-on overview of natural building technique and theory. It was well thought out and focused, with a good pace and balance. It never felt too rushed or too slow. Scott and Chrystalina are highly knowledgable and patient teachers who allow plenty of student input and questions. Highly recommended!"
— Dylan

"Your workshop was better than I could have hoped for. This introduction to natural building harmonized with me on every level: from the excellent and well-organized instruction, to the relaxed approach to teaching, to each facet of the hands-on learning. Hats off to your methods and approach. Thanks. I couldn't have asked for better!"
— Myriem

"The program more than exceeded my expectations! As a beginner to natural building, the workshop provided a helpful introduction to the different natural building materials and techniques which are available and how to determine which would be appropriate to any given environment or project. Your real-world experience with natural building, combined with your technical knowledge and friendly manner resulted in a workshop that was both highly informative, comprehensible and fun. I have often found that the ability to communicate complex ideas with numerous variables in a clear, concise and understandable way is the sign of true mastery of the material being taught. Your personalized attention to each workshop participant and their building designs is a reflection of your passion for the work, for the people involved and the creation of an environment which is inclusive, enriching and empowering. The handout materials, books available for review, website links and references provided at the workshop have formed the foundation of my natural building library and are invaluable. I highly recommend this workshop for those interested in the nuts and bolts of how to design, plan and actually create a natural building."
— Brian

"Great class Scott. It was fantastic to get an idea on how to really get the ball rolling on natural building. I am looking forward to working with you again!"
— Tim

"Scott was an excellent teacher, and super patient with all of us newbies. Totally worth the flight from Charlotte, and I recommend this style of learning very highly!"
— Luke

"I loved creating a structure by hand with our class. It was fun to get dirty and work hard with our amazing crew and teachers. We learned a specific method of natural building, but were also introduced to many ways of sculpting earthen materials and living in harmony with nature."
— Skylark

"Thanks for the great cob workshop! It was great to meet other people who are into cob and take the first step towards making my own cob house a reality."
— Katie

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