Pigs in a Blanket: August 2011

When approaching the design for Duncan and Nugget, what exactly they needed as adult pigs to thrive in their new bachelor pad on a VERY tight budget were taken into consideration. As stated earlier, they need to be cool in the summer, and warm in the winter. They love to laze about, especially in the mud, and they love to chew on some tasty greens. (Actually, they eat and gnaw on almost everything- another important thing to know!)

After brainstorming about how to obtain and use "inexpensive building materials" (and by inexpensive, i mean "free" or close to), I started perusing sites such as Craigslist and Ebay for unique ideas. Inspired by the beautiful farm compounds and their simple beauty along the way to Mehoopany, we thought we could put an architectural spin on a classic piece of farm-i-tecture and customize it for the piggies. I found a 10' diameter corrugated metal grain silo on Ebay for $1.99 ($80.00 shipping), residing in Sacramento, California. I struck pay-dirt thinking we could rip the structure in half, offset the pieces and ultimately 'wrap' the inhabitants with the structure- hence, "Pigs in a Blanket."

I signed up for one of those bidding websites that guarantees a win, and to my dismay was outbid by $2.50.

Rallying against the loss of the structure and my vision of architectural grandeur for the piggies, we decided to keep the same design parti and change the material. Joe Savo introduced the innovative idea of a rammed earth structure that would be inexpensive, tough, beautiful and unique.