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@Smart Red Thanks. Gotta love Ford Blue! It was a mess when I first purchased it. So a paint job was in order quick. Very reliable tractor. We love it!

Footer size and construction somewhat depends on your location and type of dirt, etc. Living here in New Mexico the frost line is relatively shallow so a 14 inch deep footing was all that was required. I happen to have a bunch of cinder blocks left over from another project, so I used those. I...

Great pictures Sumi. Thanks for sharing! It is amazing how strikingly similar the building style and the terrain of your area is to the Southwestern parts of the U.S. I always wanted some old ruins on my property but this place didn't come with any. Hence, I had to build my own! Here are some...

That is what they call Coyote Fencing around here. Normally these are all lined up side by side, close together and makes a sturdy fence. But I didn't have enough to do this. So it works as a nice decoration and it keeps the deer out.

Actually it is built on a corner of our 3 acre property. Probably best described as an adult fort, though I could easily live in it if I had to. Also, a good guest house if we have any visitors. My wife likes to plant a garden, although because of the heavy drought here in the southwest, we...

Earth bag construction might be an option if you are set on using earth as your medium.

Much like it's first cousin adobe, this method is suited for the drier southwest climate. The soil in wetter areas have too much organic matter to begin with for even making these blocks. Once made being so wet, the moisture in the atmosphere would deteriorate these blocks quick like.

Thanks Baymule. It was a lot of work, but I really enjoyed doing this project. Not sure if I have the energy to do it again, but I sure am glad I did it!

Thanks Baymule!

When I finally decided to go with CEB construction after much internet research, I set out to find, for purchase, a small manual block press. I had resolved myself to the idea that ultimately I would have to order such a machine from overseas. Though large expensive automatic machines can be...

I finished the enclosing process by building doors, windows and shutters. All wooden trim as well as interior furnishings were built from inexpensive rough sawn ceder fence pickets. This added to the rustic look I was after as well as being inexpensive. The windows themselves I made of simple...

As I went along building the walls, I kept them covered with tarps to protect the blocks from rain returning them back to natural state of mud. Once the roof was in place, the interior walls were protected. I could then leave the interior blocks more or less their natural state, which I...

To be continued....

From this point it is a matter of mixing and pressing blocks. I stacked these on pallets and covered them with cheap plastic tarps. Some people using this method of construction advocate immediate placement of blocks in your walls. I found this leads to too quick of drying and a weaker block. By...

I had to experiment with the dirt I had right around this area. I was able to find some dirt that was high in clay content and mixed that with the dirt that I dug out of the ground for the footings and floor of the proposed cabin location. All this dirt was run thru a 1/4 hardware cloth screen...

I always wanted to build my own little replica of a homesteaders cabin. All by myself. It didn't have to be huge. The average homesteaders cabin was under 200 square feet. Over the years I researched all matter of construction types, both old and new....straw bale, earth bag, papercrete...

Thanks everyone for the nice welcome.