isn't there a story about this involving pigs?

anza-borrego desert
last weekend i volunteered to help construct a hay bale structure, "i did a report about it in high school," and wanted to check it out. the anza-borrego foundation is building a new archaeological lab, and wanted to use the insulating properties of straw. my friends and i left san diego at 6:30 and traveled the two hour drive out into the desert. after we were given a short lesson on how to build with straw. we were then set to work. [i was surprised to see that there were already two other buildings on the site, one of brick, one of twigs]. most of the time is spent re-binding the bales to the proper size. after you get them to the right size, you can then cut the original bindings, and trim it down with a chainsaw. this new construction method was great, but the best part of the trip was meeting all the other interesting people that came to volunteer. there were architects and designers helping out and then there were old hippies that wanted to build a straw bale structure themselves, and eventually get "off the grid". over all i had a great time, i just wish i would have remembered my gloves.

wedging the bales into place

cutting the bales

lending a helping hand