Angelo starts the “cob toss” at the mixing station

I think one of the highlights for folks participating in our 2014 Cob Building Workshop was the “cob toss”. It involves nothing more than grabbing a pre-formed cob “loaf” and passing it to another builder, where eventually it will end up on the wall or whatever is being built. This is an extremely useful method for transporting the heavy material, especially when the wall is no longer at a height when it can be simply placed on the wall without much movement (on the builder’s part), or when the mixing station cannot be sited immediately adjacent to the wall.

I also love what the cob toss represents…

The “cob toss” ends at the bench, where the material gets lined out

In our case, it was mostly for fun that we did it. We could have walked over the material, but why walk when you can toss? I think this very simple action is a great symbol for the cooperation and community necessary for this type of building, too. Not necessarily just cob, but natural building in general, which often involves lots of manual labor and greatly benefits from a crew of people. It’s just like the feeling you get when you participate in a bucket brigade. It is, after all, basically the same thing. It’s a great way of engaging people in a very simple task, and creating connection amongst everyone. No wonder why people like participating in it so much!