Dear friends of Arcadia,
our land is blessed with so many resources!
If we started making a list of all the gifts the Earth gives us, a whole book wouldn't be enough!
Let's just think about the main ones: the earth supports us and keeps us anchored to her with the love of gravity;
it is a wonderful heat and energy container; keeps the moist in; creates habitats for billions of microorganisms, insects and animals; gives shelter to plant roots and feeds them as well... it even has a therapeutic, cleansing and purifying effect!
For centuries, it has been used in the building industry given its excellent properties, be it raw or cotta for making bricks.
Today, we are discovering again the outstanding characteristics of this material which is right here, beneath our feet...
In Arcadia, we take care of this priceless material by observing it first and then trying to getting to know more of it!
The word soil means anything and nothing at the same time! Let's try to understand what we are talking about. Our soil is made of clay and sandstone whose colors reflect those of our fields, of our hills and of bricks with which old houses were made once: the light grey almost of an indigo shade clay blocks were mixed with the faint ochre of the sandstone.
During the dry times of the year, the farmed fields, almost naked and drained of any organic substances, look like the desert because of its extreme pale color!
When it rains, the clay kicks in, making the soil heavy and sticky.
This soil is every farmer's nightmare, at least that's what they say!!!
It turns out instead, it is perfect for building and plastering and it's just right here!
So, we started looking for the best areas in our soil to select, sift and mix... clay, tufa stone, sands and straw. All these simple ingredients become magic in the hands of he who knows how to create with them!
It is gonna be fun!
Our house is an old rural building made of bricks and stones that we are trying to bring back to its ancient splendour: for the interior walls, we will use raw soil to make the upholstery plastering. Because of the soil properties, this covering allows a natural thermohygrometric regulation that will result in a unique cozy feeling ;) Have you ever been in a house whose walls were covered in dirt? You should try it! We are experimenting with it, come see us ;)
