Monthly Archives

April 2008

Cob work site pictures

By Drainage Trench

As I just mentioned, the digging and filling of the rubble trench is now completed.

Here’s a shot of the completed trench, pre-gravel. This photo was taken facing north. Take note of the drainage trench in the northwest corner. All of the topsoil is piled along the fence line on the east side.

trench-complete

Instead of simply piling all of the clay that was dug up from the trench in a big pile, I amassed as many five gallon buckets as I could to shovel the clay directly into them. In addition to buying a bunch (secondhand), I borrowed over 40 from other Dancing Rabbit members, making for a total of over 80 buckets full of clay. When it’s time to start cobbing, the clay will have to be slaked (soaked in water). So, putting the clay directly into these buckets has at least eliminated one step. (This won’t be enough clay for the whole building, though, so I’ll have to cart some from elsewhere in the village.)

buckets

The trench is about 18″ deep all around, and 18″ wide. No one has ever dug a trench this shallow before, so it’s a bit of an experiment to see if it’s truly necessary to go any deeper in this particular region. (Hopefully not. Generally, the ground does not freeze very deep here, I think.)

trench-detail

With the help of many hands, moving the gravel into the trench was no problem. We started with about an inch or two at the bottom, then laid down a 4″ perforated drain tile. On top of that tile, we piled more gravel up to about 2″ short of the top of the trench, tamping it at least twice during the process.

Oftentimes, I describe the shape of my cob house design to resemble a scotch tape dispenser. Here’s a view looking south to demonstrate that.

trench-scotchtape

Next comes finding some urbanite, and building the foundation. I have at least one or two leads, but no guarantees on any actual material yet. Several of my inquiries into piles of urbanite have proved unfruitful thus far. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Trench digging completed

By Drainage Trench

The past few days, I have been working long hours to dig the foundation trench for my eventual cob house. Today, it is complete, and ready to be filled with gravel. I am pretty psyched about that. The digging took four days with the help of Jeff, who will be work exchanging with me for a few weeks. The trench is approximately 18″ deep, and 18″ wide. It wasn’t nearly as difficult as I thought it would be. (That’s partly because I only dug 18″, not the 24″ or 32″ I was originally planning.)

As soon as I have a free minute, I will have to post some photos. Tomorrow, I will have the help of the first group of Dancing Rabbit visitors to fill in the trench with gravel. Very happy about that.  Human power!

Staking a site and digging a trench

By Drainage Trench

Over the weekend, I staked out my building site. I started by staking out the very center of the house, and then I positioned additional stakes to form the east-west and north-south axes. The house is oriented to take maximum advantage of solar gain. Using string, I was able to determine the slope of the site, which thankfully is not too-too dramatic. Then I drove a bunch of stakes in the ground at various other measured points as guides to create an outline of the shape of the house. I have pretty much committed the shape of the cob building to the ground at this point.

Last week was very rainy, but thankfully the past few days have been warm and dry. Since I am digging the foundation trench by hand, it is important to have very optimal soil conditions to dig. I started digging a drainage trench today (not part of the actual foundation trench, but a separate trench on the high side of the site to intercept rainwater), but the soil is still quite damp and difficult to move. The soil here has an incredibly high clay content which holds moisture for a long time. (All that clay is great for building, though!)

Unfortunately, it is supposed to rain again in another couple of days, so I won’t be able to get too far with the digging before I have to stop again. Tomorrow, I am having a huge dump truck full of gravel delivered to my site. Eventually, once the trench is completely dug (all two and a half feet of it), I will lay in 4″ drainpipe (or drain tile), fill it in with tamped gravel, and then begin work on my urbanite foundation.

It’s safe to say I’ve officially begun!

Looking for natural building work exchangers

By Uncategorized

I need to start looking into getting some willing work exchangers this summer for help with constructing my cob cottage. Hopefully, with the assistance of a few work exchangers throughout this season, progress on the house will go much more quickly. Plus, it’s always more fun to work with other folks. Anyway, I’ve written up a rough draft for my “call for work exchangers” that will go on the Dancing Rabbit website sometime soon. Here it is:

– – – – –

Interested in learning about natural building? Looking to get some actual hands-on experience building a cob cottage? Want to experience community life in an off-the-grid, sustainable ecovillage?

I am looking to host work exchangers during summer 2008 during the months of May, June, July, and August to help with the construction of a small cob dwelling. The house is a spiral-shaped structure composed entirely of cob (a mix of sand, clay, and straw), complete with a reclaimed urbanite foundation and a living reciprocal roof. Cobbing is largely a hand-built process, with walls that are sculpted into shape by hand.

Other than gaining valuable natural building experience, you will have the opportunity to experience community life here at Dancing Rabbit — partake in community events and activities, eat seasonal and organic meals (largely vegetarian or vegan whole foods) in a food co-op with Dancing Rabbit members, and enjoy a beautiful summer in rural Missouri. As a temporary resident of the community, you will also be expected to partake in community responsibilities, such as weekly cook shifts and cleaning.

Prospective work exchangers should have some previous construction, natural building, or carpentry experience, although it is not mandatory. If you are responsible, have a strong work ethic, and are capable of regularly doing very physical work, you will be fit for this role. As a work exchanger, your cost of living here at Dancing Rabbit will be covered in exchange for 35-40 hours of labor per week. Non-building labor responsibilities will include cook shifts as part of a food co-op, and occasional cleaning shifts.

Host Offers

o Food: Full food stipend. You will be part of a vegetarian/vegan food co-op during your stay.
o Accommodations: Tenting space provided and shared facilities available for use (Common House with kitchen, showers, humanure system)
o Fees: Payment of all residency fees
o Transportation: No coverage provided
o Education and skills: Hands-on experience building a cob cottage, community lifestyle experience

You Provide

o Weekly hours for host: 35-40 hours per week
o Money/Fees/Food costs: None
o Other: strong work ethic, skill, responsibility, attention to detail, desire to learn, enthusiasm, and a good spirit. As a temporary resident of the community, you will partake in community responsibilities such as cooking and cleaning.

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My warren

By Uncategorized

Today, I’ve officially acquired my warren (read: space, plot of land). It was formerly leased by another member here who only gardened a couple of beds on the entire space, so the land is in very good shape. There are several garden beds at the north and south ends, and a single apple tree towards the back, as well.

The plot is longer than it is wide, with a maximum width of about fifty feet at the center, tapering to something like twenty feet up front. There is a very slight slope towards the north in the rear. I think that the entire space is something like 2,500 square feet. (Fun fact: this is roughly equivalent to the average size of the American house.)

 

I am very excited to finally have my own land, but of course it’s been very rainy and wet lately, preventing me from doing just about anything of purpose on the land. Rain is in the forecast for the next few days, so it might be a while before I can even start moving some of my lumber to the warren. We’ll see.

Can’t wait to start digging.