I can relate to the work style of a 1930’s American cabinet shop (public domain)

After over a year of design development with the architect and client, selecting logs of deodar cedar and having them custom milled and cured to outfit the interior of a new guest house down the coast, I’m regaining perspective on my original thinking behind how I approached the project: Shuffling the Tree.

As my cabinets, doors and built-in furnishings take shape, each part of the tree finds its corresponding use in built form, the planks having been painstakingly graded for grain character, color and structural integrity. The process of hand sorting thousands of board feet of air-dried, rough sawn lumber has been slower than I had anticipated, but well worth the effort, and I’m feeling less overwhelmed as I convert my neatly stickered piles into glowing wooden furnishings. I’m taking extra pains not to use any laminated sheet materials, constructing all casework in solid stock.

I’ve found that designing and building this way automatically bestows a building with a feeling of belonging-ness, as though the house stands in honor of the tree it displaced. When the material is locally sourced from the waste stream, diverted from horticultural salvage that might otherwise be burned as firewood, the building’s interior has the added benefit of reducing carbon emissions to the atmosphere. I call my approach ‘bioregional vernacular’, and I’m glad for the opportunity to test its scalability.

cabinets of deodar cedar w/face frames, stacked up while I prepare doors and drawers

To follow my progress on designing and building the guest house interior, please click here and scroll down.

Tagged: craft philosophy, deep craft, furniture design, scott Constable, slow design, sustainability, traditional craft, vernacular architecture, woodworking

Greenwood: Selective Harvesting Preserves Forests

Though I’ve built just one boat to date, I’ve been an avid reader of WoodenBoat magazine for over 25 years. The publication is a major torch-bearer for the practice of traditional boat-building, and a treasure trove of primary source knowledge for all things wood. My favorite feature is invariably the Wood Technology column by Richard Jagels, forest biologist and professor at University of Maine. The persistence of woodcraft requires constant adaptation to changing conditions, and Richard’s column always provides valuable, in-depth perspective on forest ecology as it relates to sourcing and processing wood products.

I was thrilled to learn that Jagels has taken his work out of the halls of academia as a founding director of Greenwood Global, a non-profit dedicated to protecting both forests and traditional artisanry internationally.

Tagged: appropriate technology, craft, deep craft, furniture design, green design, green woodworking, innovation, richard jagels, slow design, sustainability, traditional craft, vernacular, wooden boat, woodworking

surfer/shaper Andy Lambrecht takes a break in Sayulita

I met surfboard maker Andy Lambrecht on our last day in Sayulita, Mexico. I noticed his handmade  wooden board by the beached fishing boats as we were packing up and getting ready to catch a bus back to Puerto Vallarta. Based in British Columbia, Andy makes a variety of hollow surfboards using reclaimed woods from local sources, which he typically re-saws and book-matches in elegant patterns- imperfections like nail holes are artfully incorporated into each board’s unique composition.

Andy is on paternity leave and will be in Sayulita with his wife and their two young daughters for three months, surfing and hanging out (talk about a health care program!). He brought along his shaping tools and has already landed a commission- a surfboard in exchange for work on his ailing car after the arduous journey southward. I look forward to keeping in touch with Andy Lambrecht, and have invited him and his family for a visit on their way back up the coast.

Tagged: andy lambrecht, deep craft, green design, sayulita, scott Constable, surfing, sustainability, woodworking

someone left a rose in a driftwood log

I can’t think of a better way to recalibrate after an intense week of studio woodworking than a morning of beachcombing after a string of storms. I appreciate more and more living and working so close to the shore, and find daily release and inspiration being able to take a walk, a run, or an occasional dip in the surf when the waves are rideable. I always return to the studio refreshed, having put things in perspective simply by tuning in to the flotsam of the day.

beach erosion has uncovered an old engine block

I found a great piece of wood for my first driftwood skate deck

Tagged: beachcombing, california coast, deep craft, longboard, scott Constable, skateboard, sonoma coast, woodworking

nearly ripe Hachiya Persimmon, ready to be peeled and hung to dry

Looking up at the persimmon tree’s wild constellation of fruit still languidly dangling, you’d hardly know we already picked over two bushels for drying. Ene recently discovered the Japanese art of Hoshigaki, a technique of drying fruit by a combination of open-air hanging and hand massaging. The fruit is picked before it fully ripens, with a section of branch left attached, then it is peeled and hung for several weeks, gently squeezed daily after a skin develops; the massaging brings out the sugars. Our studio is rimmed with drying persimmon, adding to the season’s festive atmosphere.

peeled persimmon are hung to dry, still attached to the branch

our Hachiya Persimmon tree is still loaded with fruit

Tagged: california flora, deep craft, DIY, gardening, hoshigaki, persimmon, phenology, slow food, traditional craft

This time of year we produce a steady supply of ash from our wood-burning stoves, our primary source of heat. I get an odd thrill from collecting the ash and putting it to use. Ash from hardwood is very fine, with an almost soapy consistency. It’s loose but sort of coagulates, clustering as though magnetic or statically charged. I’m very curious about the material and have been enjoying collecting ideas for its uses. Here are several:

• compost enrichment
• fertilizer (especially for tomatoes)
• snail deterrent
• deodorizer (in the chicken coop)
• add water to make lye for soap
• glass cleaner
• silver cleaner

I’d love to hear of any other ideas for how to use wood ash.

Tagged: appropriate technology, deep craft, green design, sustainability, wood ash

Hachiya persimmon are ripening early this year

The raccoons have commenced their furtive nighttime raids on the persimmon tree, whose fruits are prematurely ripe by a few weeks. We’re still trying to figure out how best to use the hundreds of Hachiya persimmon produced by our single tree each winter, and have been picking and ripening the fruit before the raccoons strip the tree bare. The past few years we waited until the persimmon were dropping, soft and syrupy on the branches, and we’d slice them in half, freeze the halves and serve them as a deliciously slushy dessert with fresh lime between Christmas and the New Year. Still, we ate only a small percentage of the fruit, the rest fattened the raccoons, grosbeak and orioles. This year I plan to experiment with boiling down the ripened persimmon to make a sweet, colorful syrup, but remain open to any other suggestions.

making wreaths

Ene and Aili have been making wreaths this year with friends from our various holly trees, whose berries have also ripened early. It’s wonderful to see such value added to our annual prunings; the trees benefit while Ene sends beautiful homemade wreaths as gifts to family for Christmas. Making wreaths is a great model for the kind of nonchalant agriculture we seem well suited to practice, and we hope to continually develop the property by encouraging beneficial loops and a gift economy. Continue Reading »

Tagged: aesthetics, california coast, california flora, craft philosophy, deep craft, DIY, gift economy, Hachiya persimmon, phenology, slow food, sustainability