Long time members of the SASBC (SASL) fondly remember trips to see the earthship and the other sustainable residences built on this beautiful piece of the Hill Country. With numerous springs that run into Mill Creek which itself feeds the Frio, the land is flush with flora and hill country animals life.
Gray Wolf is a land trust. Members purchase the right to build on land approved by the other members, but the land is held by the trust. The members approve the structures to be built. As a group we haven't visited there in at least five years but several years ago in addition to the earthship, people were working on rammed earth, stone rubble and log structures. Water was being collected in spring boxes and a small kitchen area was available for the use of people building their homes.
This earthship has the features readers of Michael Reynold's books all know about. In this photo you can see the kitchen sink planter and the entrance to the cold room for food storage.
In this photo you can see the New Mexico style viga beams and the classic earthship decorative touch, a glass bottle design embedded in an interior wall.
The couple who built the earthship were incredibly industrious. The process of building an earthship is manual labor heavy to begin with but they did much more. Even after their home was finished they added a stone patio worthy of the Civilian Conservation Corps.
There may be other earthships in south Texas, but to my knowledge, they've never come to our attention at SASL. If you know of any please let us know. Perhaps someday soon we'll be able to visit the Gray Wolf Environmental Education Center, Inc.. If you are interested in organizing or joining such a excursion, please join our Facebook group or come to our monthly meeting at Whole Foods.
