Butterfly Garden News

Cob - A Natural Alternative

Posted on 17 May 2009

Cob – A Natural Alternative

Photos / Article © 2009 Andrea Anderson

Cob has been used for centuries as a natural building material. A type of free form adobe, cob structures built hundreds of years ago are still standing in many parts of the world. It is both cheap and ecologically sound, not to mention strong. Made from clay, sand and straw, it receives its strength from the interweaving of straw fibers as well as the binding of the aggregate components of clay and sand which allows the “earth” to move freely while keeping it together. Cob is as natural and as stable as the mountains and the shores which have withstood the test of time as they are all made of similar materials.Although, fairly new to the United States, cob has been popular in many areas of the globe where wood and other more modern materials are more difficult to obtain. However, their has been a resurgence of desire for natural locally sustainable materials which has brought cob to the forefront of even our little community in California and even into our own backyard. A few weeks ago, here at Butterfly Gardens, we decided to become even a bit more sustainable and buy a few chickens to raise. Of course, the chickens needed a home so we began to consider the alternatives. A cob chicken house seemed to be the perfect answer, as cob is made from natural materials that wouldn’t harm the chickens and cob also works as an excellent insulator. So, we began to make a small model of the chicken coop. We even made the model out of cob.We had planned on having a small gathering to create the cob chicken coop this Memorial Day weekend but (unfortunately) David burned his hand quite badly so the project was halted.However, we plan to have a gathering once his hand has healed and we even plan to create an instructional videotape for all those cob enthusiasts out there in case you end up missing out on the gathering. In addition, we have been doing some extra special research and we have come up with a secret ingredient used that we plan on sharing with our friends at the gathering and with all those who support Butterfly Garden News. (So check back often for details on that.) Meanwhile, this week, we happened upon a great local cob project in Lucerne California to become a part of. David lent his feet to the project while I lent my hands. We actually had a great time and met some wonderful people. The thing we love about cob is that it brings people, big and small, together. And, thanks to a truly “hands on” approach, the Lake County community has come together to take part in this cob project to build a garden wall, park bench and trellis out of natural local materials, in order to create a more inviting atmosphere at Lucerne Creek Park off of Highway 20 and Ninth Street in Lucerne, California. Unlike other projects which are often over budget and a waste of both human and natural resources, amazingly, the project in Lucerne is being done on a simple shoestring budget using natural local resources and a whole lot of old fashioned “sweat equity” from the community. There is a renewed reverence for natural local resources which has been sweeping across the U.S. and it has finally made its way to Lake County, California, thanks to a few determined individuals. Lake County’s District 3 Supervisor Denise Rushing not only endorses the project which uses cob to create an inviting natural look to the park, she also is participating in it, firsthand. Supervisor Rushing moved forward with the plan approved by local residents input to use an earth friendly building material called “cob which utilizes natural local resources to create everything needed for the enhancement of the visual aesthetics of the park. Massey Burke, an instructor from the Solar Living Institute who was invited to Lake County to oversee the project, explained that “cob, a ‘free form’ style of adobe which uses clay, sand, and straw, has been used for centuries to create buildings several stories tall and seemed like a natural choice for Lake County since its soil is already so rich in clay.” The project, several years in the making, originally planned to have expensive lighting, benches and other modern amenities. However, when District 3 residents were eventually asked what they wanted, the plans changed dramatically. Citizens like Donna Christopher made it known that they preferred a more natural setting created by local resources and a community effort rather than a rigid city park plan constructed by committees and corporations. “We live here to see stars not streetlights.” Donna Christopher pointed out. David, even though he had his own cob project put on hold due to a burned hand, lent his feet and a few words of encouragement to the project, saying, “I would like to see more of this type of construction. Even if you are creating something traditionally standard, you can easily replace many standard aspects of building such as walls and siding with cob.” Lake County residents, young and old, have participated quite cheerfully on the project, donating their time and talents. Cheryl Crockett, along with Katelyn and Karli Davis even stopped on their way home from grocery shopping to help out.For more information about the Lucerne Creek Park Project, please contact us here at contact @ butterflygardennews.com or Massey Burke at massey.burke @ gmail.com (remember, no spaces… we put the spaces in to throw off the spam bots) )and for more information on upcoming cob events and other workshops, please visit our site in the future.Here are some more pics of the project… more to come as the project continues…

Photos Below Courtesy of JoAnn Saccato