Building with earth is an age old concept that takes many shapes and forms all over the world.

The owners of a small but growing school in Freeland are bringing these techniques to the South End.

The Ancient Earth School of Natural Building offers workshops and internships to community members who want to learn how to build earth structures.

The school, which began two years ago, uses sustainable building practices and natural materials. In many cases, the material used to build a structure is found right at the site.

Eli Adadow, who runs the school with wife Marta Mulholland, said the school’s values align well with the South Whidbey community.

“People on Whidbey are community minded and care about the environment,” Adadow said. “People also tend to want to preserve the character of the island, and this is one way to do that.”

The Freeland earth school is committed to using natural materials for their building projects such as rock, sand, soil, clay and straw.

Those who attend a workshop at the Ancient Earth School can learn how to make all kinds of different buildings.

Students have built meditation sanctuaries, yoga spaces and other dwellings, as well as garden benches, sculptured walls and clay-baking ovens.

These structures — whether made with adobe, cob, earth bags, earthships, rammed earth, papercrete, or earth plaster over straw bale — have become increasingly popular.

“It’s become a renaissance time for natural building,” Adadow said.

He pointed out that “earth” building is not the same as ‘green’ building — a practice which often uses unnatural materials, power tools and transportation energy. Those are things the earth school tries to avoid.

Rectangular-shaped structures are another thing the school tries to avoid.

“Most things in nature are roundish,” Adadow said.

He said many earth structures are shaped like shells, or perhaps, the dome of a human skull.

“I have yet to think of something rectangular in the human body,” Adadow said.

Besides being a natural shape, Adadow said building things round is more practical.

“Round structures are usually stronger than square, and give you more square footage,” he said.

Although the Ancient Earth School workshops are wrapping up for the season, Adadow and Mulholland are looking forward to expanding the school’s operations next year.

One of the things they would like to do is become a non-profit organization.

“We would like to expand our vision,” Adadow said.

They would like to build an outreach program and are working on an international program to build housing for the homeless. They’re now planning a trip to Honduras to build an earth bag structure.

Adadow said another thing he would like to see happen is earth-building material become more readily available.

“We’d also like to work with the county to get more information about earth material in mainstream construction,” Adadow said.

The teacher said he is surprised that earth building is considered “alternative” construction, when around the world it’s really the main form of construction.

“I’m surprised and slightly baffled to why we don’t use it more often,” Adadow said.

Breeana Laughlin can be reached at 221-5300 or blaughlin@southwhidbeyrecord.com