Workshops and Events
Solar Photovoltaic Energy:
Generating Your Own Electricity
Introductory Class ***
Generate your own power from the sun, a renewable resource, and be more energy independent. Learn about solar power, how it works, and how it can work for you. This class is geared to the field professional as well as to the homeowner. In this PV Class,
you will:
~ Learn all about Solar PV Systems, how they work, how they are put together and how these systems can be incorporated into your life;
~ Become comfortable in your understanding of solar energy with lots of information and hands-on access to solar equipment;
~ Learn to assess your own electrical load at home; and
~ Learn how to develop and implement your own efficiency and conservation plan, cornerstone to efficient use of solar energy.
*** The Solar Photovoltaics Introductory Workshop is a one-day class. This course is a pre-requisite for the Advanced PV Workshop, which includes doing an installation.
Rex Rohrer, Instructor, currently installs solar systems and has lived off-grid for 14 years.
Back to Home for dates and contact form.
Generating Your Own Electricity
Introductory Class ***
Generate your own power from the sun, a renewable resource, and be more energy independent. Learn about solar power, how it works, and how it can work for you. This class is geared to the field professional as well as to the homeowner. In this PV Class,
you will:
~ Learn all about Solar PV Systems, how they work, how they are put together and how these systems can be incorporated into your life;
~ Become comfortable in your understanding of solar energy with lots of information and hands-on access to solar equipment;
~ Learn to assess your own electrical load at home; and
~ Learn how to develop and implement your own efficiency and conservation plan, cornerstone to efficient use of solar energy.
*** The Solar Photovoltaics Introductory Workshop is a one-day class. This course is a pre-requisite for the Advanced PV Workshop, which includes doing an installation.
Rex Rohrer, Instructor, currently installs solar systems and has lived off-grid for 14 years.
Back to Home for dates and contact form.
Cob Elements
Learn about the properties of cob and work with this beautiful, natural and versatile material.
You can build furniture, wall sculptures, ovens, most anything imaginable. Additionally, earth plaster can be used as a beautiful and natural cover for walls and buildings.
Learn about the properties of cob and work with this beautiful, natural and versatile material.
You can build furniture, wall sculptures, ovens, most anything imaginable. Additionally, earth plaster can be used as a beautiful and natural cover for walls and buildings.
Building With Straw Bales:
A hands-on Workshop Using a Missouri Natural Resource
This workshop will cover all aspects of building a straw bale house, from discussion of all pertinent issues to actually building the structure.
You will learn some of the lessons we have learned, having built and lived in one of the first straw houses in Missouri for almost two decades. This is an octagon-shaped "Nebraska-style" load-bearing house, which has off-grid solar power, composting toilet and an earthen floor.
There will be "classroom" discussion of important aspects of building your own home, including:
* history and benefits of building with straw
* factors to consider when building
* what is passive solar gain?
* house design
* building materials
* wall coatings and coverings - interior and exterior
* interior walls
* installation of plumbing and electrical
* foundation specifics
* roof types
* regulations, financing
Hands-on building will include:
* Erecting the Walls
* Bale Wall Covering, as time allows
A hands-on Workshop Using a Missouri Natural Resource
This workshop will cover all aspects of building a straw bale house, from discussion of all pertinent issues to actually building the structure.
You will learn some of the lessons we have learned, having built and lived in one of the first straw houses in Missouri for almost two decades. This is an octagon-shaped "Nebraska-style" load-bearing house, which has off-grid solar power, composting toilet and an earthen floor.
There will be "classroom" discussion of important aspects of building your own home, including:
* history and benefits of building with straw
* factors to consider when building
* what is passive solar gain?
* house design
* building materials
* wall coatings and coverings - interior and exterior
* interior walls
* installation of plumbing and electrical
* foundation specifics
* roof types
* regulations, financing
Hands-on building will include:
* Erecting the Walls
- foundation readiness
- positioning and stacking bales
- building and using corner braces
- building and installing door and window bucks
- wall cap and tie-down
- applying general building principles for building a roof
- erecting roof and tie-down on straw bale building
* Bale Wall Covering, as time allows
- Introduction to earthen plaster
- Basic applications
Get muddy! We'll be applying earthen plaster to straw bale walls this year, SOME Saturdays and Sundays, in Leasburg, MO.
Call 314-995-9247 for more info.
Friendly Living Gathering with Earth's Classroom
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Bill and Jody of Earth's Classroom are hosting this fun and educational event again, for the seventh year! You can tour three very different green owner-built homes: an earth- contact green home with photovoltaic intertie and solar hot water, a round cordwood home with a sod roof and composting toilet, and an octagon strawbale home, off-grid with adobe floor. Jody and Bill feed you lunch, as well as giving you a lot of food for thought! To sign up, contact Jody at 573-437-7628. To learn more about this wonderful not-for-profit, check out www.earthsclassroom.org.
Solar Picnic at Onondaga Cave State Park
Saturday June 16, 2012
Onondaga Cave State Park will hold it's annual Solar Fair, the Saturday of the Summer Solstice. Silver Seed Farms will be on hand to discuss solar energy and equipment and straw bale building. This is a fun family event each year, with every other year being the much bigger event. See below "Green Living Fair", which has a lot of presenters and green vendors available to talk with.
Green Living Fair
Onondaga Cave State Park
Saturday, June 18, 2011
10 to 5 by the Visitor Center
**Coming again in 2013**
We'll be there, along with many other renewable energy and sustainable living businesses and organizations, and enjoy the live music, arts and activities. Bring the kids! Children/Family Hours are 10:30 and 2. See the event flyer for more information. To get an idea of the 2009 event, see the video.
Mark your calendar, visit and relax at Onondaga Cave State Park! Come to the Fair, and you'll also have plenty of access to the cool river, the air-conditioned Visitor Center or go on a cave tour in the world-renowned Onondaga Cave. Go to onondagafriends.com for more information on the Fair. Fill out the contact form, if your business would like to participate in the Fair, or if you would like to volunteer. Or just come out and have fun.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
10 to 5 by the Visitor Center
**Coming again in 2013**
We'll be there, along with many other renewable energy and sustainable living businesses and organizations, and enjoy the live music, arts and activities. Bring the kids! Children/Family Hours are 10:30 and 2. See the event flyer for more information. To get an idea of the 2009 event, see the video.
Mark your calendar, visit and relax at Onondaga Cave State Park! Come to the Fair, and you'll also have plenty of access to the cool river, the air-conditioned Visitor Center or go on a cave tour in the world-renowned Onondaga Cave. Go to onondagafriends.com for more information on the Fair. Fill out the contact form, if your business would like to participate in the Fair, or if you would like to volunteer. Or just come out and have fun.
Earth Day Fairs, April 22 & 24, 2010
~ Check back for our 2011 dates!
Silver Seed Farms participated in two Earth Day celebrations; in Rolla, MO at Missouri University of Science and Technology (MS&T) and at Hillermann's Nursery in Washington, MO.
In Rolla, at MS&T, there were a lot of people in attendance, with 700 children registered to be there. We had a lot of children and even a few adults helping us in our activity, applying earthen plaster to the straw bale wall we brought and set up. The children were really smiling, having a blast applying earth plaster (looks and feels like mud) to the wall, and some were even enjoying mixing the earthen elements with hoe and shovel in the wheelbarrow! Who knew work could be fun? A great time was had by all. A solar PV panel was powering the laptop, which ran our informational slideshow, and there was a lot of interest by adults in straw bale house building, solar power and workshops. The crowd at Hillermann's was pretty thin because of the rain, but we met some really neat people who share our interests and plan to be at our workshops.
In Rolla, at MS&T, there were a lot of people in attendance, with 700 children registered to be there. We had a lot of children and even a few adults helping us in our activity, applying earthen plaster to the straw bale wall we brought and set up. The children were really smiling, having a blast applying earth plaster (looks and feels like mud) to the wall, and some were even enjoying mixing the earthen elements with hoe and shovel in the wheelbarrow! Who knew work could be fun? A great time was had by all. A solar PV panel was powering the laptop, which ran our informational slideshow, and there was a lot of interest by adults in straw bale house building, solar power and workshops. The crowd at Hillermann's was pretty thin because of the rain, but we met some really neat people who share our interests and plan to be at our workshops.
Ozark Renewable Energy and Sustainable Living Fair
Saturday, June 20, 2009
This was a fun event held at Onondaga Cave State Park, Leasburg, MO, in June. See the 8 minute video with dialogue or the 2 minute video to get a feel for the variety and definition of sustainability. We were there with a solar panel demonstration and an earth-plaster/strawbale wall hands-on demonstration. There were quite a few renewable energy and sustainable living companies and individuals in attendance, available to discuss their expertice and interests. This fair was a lot of fun and very educational, and we look forward to the next one!
Onondaga Cave State Park depends on volunteers for special events, cave restoration and to keep the park beautiful. Go to onondagafriends.com to see how you can be a friend to this beautiful Missouri state park.
Onondaga Cave State Park depends on volunteers for special events, cave restoration and to keep the park beautiful. Go to onondagafriends.com to see how you can be a friend to this beautiful Missouri state park.
Onondaga Cave is an amazing gem of a cave set into a beautiful Missouri State Park where the Missouri river flows through. It is located a little over an hour southwest of St. Louis. Experience it. Onondaga Cave State Park, 573-245-6576.
