Stomping a batch of cob on a recycled lumber tarp
In the seven years I’ve run The Year of Mud and written about building with cob, I realize I haven’t written a simple ‘how to mix cob’ post. For many folks, particularly anyone coming across my various cob oven articles online, it may not actually be obvious how you mix cob, whether it’s for an oven, bench, building a house, etc. So, better late than never — here is a handy reference if you want to mix the perfect batch of cob for your project!
Learn how to build this outdoor oven in this new how-to
Several years ago, I wrote about how to build (the now-infamous) $20 outdoor cob oven. That oven I built worked decently, produced a lot of delicious meals, and advanced my pizza baking fever to new heights. Since then, we’ve built several more outdoor pizza ovens, and each of them has been a great improvement upon the original.
This newer model is slightly bigger, allowing for easier access to the oven interior, it has even more food baking potential, and the insulation is vastly superior. This sucker gets hot, and stays hot… for a long, long time. The oven has a small roof shelter, protecting it against the weather, and a chimney keeps smoke out of the face of the fire tender. Best of all… the oven is still very inexpensive to build.
This is a very achievable, low cost, and effective oven that will not cost you thousands of dollars to build. Here’s a look at the new and improved outdoor pizza oven plans and how you can build your own.
This Mayne Island cob house is one of the most beautiful, built in 1999
This cob house is one of my favorites out there. Built by CobWorks and the Cob Cottage Company in 1999, it’s the first fully permitted cob house to be built in Canada, specifically on Mayne Island, BC. Read ahead for more beautiful photos of the home.
The Hudson pressure sprayer is a great tool for working with natural plaster and cob
A pressure sprayer is an undoubtedly useful tool in the natural building realm, especially when working with cob or plaster. Sometimes a hose is way overkill, or simply not possible to rig up. A portable sprayer fills the void, and can be especially good when you want a lot of control. When you need to wet your walls down to lay up plaster, for example, it’s useful to have something that you can work with a certain amount of finesse, only spraying what you need and not saturating everything else in the process.
Over the years, I’ve burned through any number of pump-style pressure sprayers. You know the ones — the tools with the plastic tank and plastic handle that you pump for a minute, and then try to eek enough water out of the plastic nozzle before you have to pump again… annoying, to say the least. And usually pretty cheaply made.
However, I’ve been using this Hudson trombone sprayer for a couple of years now, and can vouch for it. It’s come in quite handy during all of the plaster work we’ve been doing lately.
Our Cob Building Workshop participants and the cob bench they built
Our recent Cob Building Workshop participants were able to build a cob bench from the foundation up, and I was very pleased with what we came up with. A cob bench is the perfect beginner cob building project, as it is simple, yet provides enough of a design challenge to be interesting and engaging. The best cob bench will be comfortable, inviting, and of course visually interesting. With a bench, you can “try it on” as you go and sit and feel out the dimensions and adjust as necessary. You don’t even need a tape measure.
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…
Some of our first cob gets the “loaf” treatment for easy transport the bench site
Our 2014 Cob Building Workshop just wrapped up, and as always, I’m sad to see that folks have to go home already, but pleased with the very enjoyable experience we all shared. Our three day class was a great chance to get our hands (and feet) in the mud, mixing up some lovely batches of cob, and building a nice little bench and wall together.
I’ve been very spoiled by the clay soil in northeast Missouri, as it’s always been very easy to find, very rich, and largely free of unwanted particles. The clay in Kentucky is a bit more diverse in its appearance, and it’s not quite as free from particles and other soil components. As expected, it’s got its own personality.
I was reminded of a simple soil test you can do to check for clay content in your potential building soil, and I particularly like this elegant ‘ribbon test’ demonstrated in the video above. It speaks for itself. If you’re interested in making cob or earthen plaster, try this very simple soil test to see how much clay you have in your site soil.
So, what does your clay look like?
The lovely site for the cob bench we’ll soon be building
Time is (of course) flying. You’ve heard it all before, and it’s true all the same. August, though it doesn’t feel like any August I can remember, has peaked and we’re on the slide down to September, one of my favorite months. Though when I was of school age, I absolutely dreaded the coming of that particular month, and could not much look past the beginning of the school year to the sheer beauty and joy of the end of summer and beginning of fall.
We’re starting off September with our Cob Building Workshop, and things are definitely in motion to get ready for the event. We’ll be playing with cob in the forest for three days, here at the lovely mountain homestead of Tim and Jane outside Berea, Kentucky. It’s an absolutely beautiful site, as you might be able to tell from the photo above.
Just when I thought things might be quiet for a while, I look at the calendar and take note that we are just a little more than a month away from our Cob Building Workshop. Yow!
Our 3 day Cob Building Workshop takes place from September 5-7 here outside Berea, Kentucky. There are still three spaces remaining, so if you’ve been waiting to register, I suggest you go ahead and do that soon, because the spaces are certain to fill up. You can also save a bit on the registration fee if you register within the week.
I’m personally very excited to get my hands (and feet) back in the mud, at what will no doubt be a beautiful time of year. If you want to get your cobbing on with us, go ahead and register today.
Hi there, I’m Ziggy. In 2008, I launched The Year of Mud while building my first natural home. This website is a collection of personal stories and experiences building with clay, straw, and wood over the past 15+ years. A few of the things that get me fired up are natural plasters, timber framing, & Japanese architecture. In 2012, we started offering Natural Building Workshops, so you can learn essential hands-on skills to build your own natural home.
