From Father Marc’s Blog:

We have long embraced the concept of environmental sustainability. We use compost. We recycle. Our energy for pumps comes from PV solar panels; electricity for the Guest House is augmented by a wind turbine and we stick with natural pesticides for the farm. Having read about alternative construction going on around the world, we decided to try our hand at it. We will be building a small house with earth bags. Rice, barley, wheat (staples of our diet here) all come in poly bags which we’ve saved. They will be used to hold a mix of moistened sand and clay. Gotta purchase the sand which comes from riverbeds nearby but we have tons of clay on our property. The bags will be laid out much like bricks or blocks and barbed wire will be used as mortar between the rows. It’s a learning process and we are anxious to see what will develop. Enjoy the project vicariously.