From July 12 to 31, Ermitaj invites you to participate in its first “camptier”!

The idea of ​​the “camptier” comes to us from Pascal Depienne, professor of permaculture, and his French association “Terre-Paille & co”:

“The ‘camptier’ is a self-managed participatory worksite, we facilitate the transmission of know-how in natural construction and we share a rich moment of life with our participants. We carry out all the collective tasks, whether it is the kitchen or the dishes (the food is provided), and we only work 6 hours a day with one day off per week. This experience allows a completely informal and free education while encouraging the development of each one and the discovery of a permacultural way of life. We also share other activities such as bread-making, gardening, harvesting, processing, or simply time for games and rest, hence the name CAMPTIER. ”

This year, at the Ermitaj, we have decided to organize our first real “camptier”, which will last three weeks, and during which we will work on the exterior aspect of the barn, and its multipurpose space in which we organize most of our courses and events.
We want to take this opportunity to experiment and share several plaster and finish techniques based on natural materials (clay, straw, sand, lime, wood).
The idea is to have a pleasant, beautiful, functional place, and at the same time to experiment and show different natural building techniques!

Here is an idea of ​​the program (we may not do everything … it will depend on the number of participants and how fast we move forward!):

For the AAC block part (the current donkey house):
– interior wall (South) in clay-straw plaster, cob frame for the whiteboard + cob shelf
– east wall: ‘fake’ cord-wood (fixings of wooden washers and lime-clay-sand plaster between them)
– North and West walls => clay-lime-sand plaster or wood cladding

For the wooden part (the current workshop):
– remove the polystyrene plates from the east and north facade (will be used to insulate from the inside and / or for other uses) – wooden sign “Ermitaj Malin” on the east facade
– Filling of the holes between the wooden planks from the inside with light clay straw
– Installation of second hand windows

Creative finishing plaster on the wall in ‘torchi thai’ (made in 2019 during the PDC with Pascal Depienne) – manufacture and installation of a wooden door

 In practice:

– The camptier will take place from July 12 to 31 (arrival July 11 and departure August 1)
– It’s free!
– We ask participants to register (by email), and to stay at least one week (we ask, if possible, that arrivals and departures take place on Sundays)
– Camping accommodation (a few places in dormitory will nevertheless be available – first come, first served!), with dry toilets and outdoor shower.
– The Ermitaj provides the food (vegetarian), but the cooking (as well as the dishes and the maintenance of common areas) will be self-managed by the participants
– Every morning we will start with a briefing to determine the different tasks and working groups.
– We will work 6 hours a day, 6 days a week.