Lavacrete Garden Bed Workshop
Learn to build naturally beautiful, highly effective raised garden beds out of Lavacrete with Tiny Shiny Home
The Lavacrete Garden Bed Workshop will be held on our homestead from May 2-3, 2026. This pop-up weekend event will include step-by-step details for building garden beds with Lavacrete - a lightweight, thermally efficient material that can be cast with miminal labor.
We'll be joined by Guru Das from Awareness Ranch and Paul Schwam, the driving force behind this technology for the last 30 years.
Or keep reading for more info...
What is Lavacrete?
Lava Concrete is an under-the-radar alternative building technique that uses volcanic or scoria sand combined with portland cement, lime, and rebar to create thermally efficient, highly compressive walls that need no finishing work.
Lavacrete is beautiful, set in layers similar to rammed earth, is not prone to shrinking or cracking, and can be a cost effective option due to the scoria sand being a byproduct of screening for lava rock used in landscapes.
You can watch this video to learn more.
And while it makes a super rad house, it's also great for raised garden beds, too.
Lavacrete Garden Bed Benefits
- Thermally Stable - The porosity and material itself allows for a perfect temperature at the root zone for the plants so they don't get too hot or cold
- Porous Nature - Air pockets in the scoria sand and the way the material is laid means your soil is oxygenated naturally
- Termite Resistant - Lava sand is often used as a termite barrier because it's sharp and hard for them to dig through
- Non-Toxic Properties - Scoria is generally considered non-toxic, safe for landscaping, and eco-friendly
- Low Labor Intensity - The process of mixing lavacrete and lightly compacting the material in forms is simple and easy on your body
- No Finish Work Needed - Lavacrete needs no plastering or finishing work, and the result is a gorgeous natural wall
- Cost Effective - Scoria sand is a byproduct of landscaping lava rock, and can be cheap if you're near a cinder mine
Who Are We?
Hi friends, we're Jonathan & Ashley from Tiny Shiny Home. Our family is building an off-grid desert homestead from the ground up, literally! We started with no construction experience, and have managed to create a solar shed office, chicken garden, composting toilet outhouse, and an outdoor shower, all using hyperadobe earthbags.
We just finished the Lavacrete Utility Lodge Workshop here on our homestead, and enjoyed working with Guru Das and Paul so much that we're getting the band back together!
Bringing in the Experts
Guru Das has been doing commercial and residential Lavacrete builds in Tucson for 5+ years, and his company Awareness Ranch has built over 20 raised garden beds. They have real world experience showing Lavacrete beds outperforming other styles of garden beds, and as a result their next big project is installing 17 of them at Sprout's Phoenix headquarters this Summer.
We're also excited to welcome Paul Schwam - he's been integral to the development of Lavacrete for nearly 30 years, and has worked tirelessly to push the technology forward with over 25 permitted and code compliant structures to date. Having him on site will be an incredible resource to learn more about Lavacrete for your own project.
Lavacrete Garden Beds & Walls
So what are we doing? Well we have some really fun ideas for building several small garden beds and retaining walls by combining hyperadobe earthbags and Lavacrete. These will be highly functional and beautiful, matching our nearby Lavacrete Utility Lodge building.
Oh yeah, you'll get to see the Lavacrete Lodge in person before anyone else!
What We'll Cover
This workshop will focus mainly on building the Lavacrete garden beds.
- Building Forms
- Exploring Organic Shapes
- Mixing, Pouring & Compacting Lavacrete
- Installing Alternative Rebar
- Combining Hyperadobe & Lavacrete
Important Details
Please read the following information carefully.
Date & Time
May 2-3, 2026
8:00am - 4:00pm
Location & Lodging
This will be held on our property in Cochise County, AZ. In our best efforts to keep our exact homestead location off the internets, we will be providing recommendations for overnight accommodations only to those signing up. For reference, the closest major towns are Benson & Willcox. There are plenty of options for staying close by:
- Hotels
- AirBNB's
- Campgrounds
- Boondocking
- Sorry, on-site camping isn't available for this event
Meals
Ashley will be preparing delicious breakfast & lunch for everyone each day :)
Additional Details
- Limited space - there will be a max of 20 people.
- Partners of 2 use the "couples" option, families of 3 or more use the new "family" option and add your family members.
- No dogs, please.
- Kids are welcome for this event.
- If rain is in the forecast we may re-schedule.
- More info will be provided after signing up.