Cob Workshop - Tractor Cob

clay

sand

straw (and some water)

smoosh it all together

stir it up

eventually you will end up with a pile of cob like this

Tractor Cob

-a much faster method of mixing cob than by foot

-roughly 3 buckets of clay, 2 buckets of sand, 1/2 bale of straw

-spread out each ingredient and run over it thoroughly before mixing with the bucket

-add the hay after the dry ingredients are combined, cover the pile completely

-soak the whole mixture down with the water hose

-tractor cob must be mixed wetter than by foot, it may need to dry out before use

-larger, more heavy duty forms must be used with tractor cob as so much weight will be on them

scraping out the tractor cob

spreading out the cob

watching :)

the heavy duty braces for the tractor cob wall

That's our instructor, Diane, climbing in the frames to stomp the cob!

The second day of the workshop, after we learned to mix the cob by foot, we learned how to make it with the tractor. It is much faster, less labor intensive and it can be mixed several tons at a time. It doesn't get mixed quite as thoroughly though, there are drawbacks to either method. Once it is mixed it may need to set out overnight to dry out enough to use. On the third day of the workshop we poured it into the forms on the shop building. The cob must be scraped out of the bucked of the tractor with rakes and shovels, not dumped as the weight will most certainly break the forms. The cob still needs to be tamped down thoroughly, but if the forms are big enough you can just hop in and stomp around on it.

Until next time,

Angela Kelly

Comments

a tribute to Zaphod

It has been nearly a month since the untimely death of our dearest kitty. It is late tonight, I cannot sleep and my mind is filled with grief and sorrow still. I have heard it said that loving animals is only setting oneself up for pain in the end. I may have believed it, but until now I have never felt it. Not to say that I have not lost a pet in the past, in fact several, but fortunately they had all lived long and happy lives before old age and illness took them away. This cannot be said for Zaphod. His life only lasted two short years, and it is the knowing he was meant to spend another decade with us that pains me the most. We adopted Zaphod when he was only five weeks old, a tiny grey fuzz ball too small to eat. He refused a bottle or wet food, and we honestly worried he was not going to survive those first few days. After several trips to the vet for IV fluids and two weeks of force feeding, he accept a bowl of dry food for his first real meal, despite my

a new chapter

Things are changing around here. I haven't even finished my cob series, but life just keeps getting in the way. Jonathan and I are currently looking for a new place to call home. Sometimes you have to accept that things aren't working, and do something different. Unfortunately we are going to have to quit our farmers market. We are looking for homes for our animals, and selling off what we can. We will miss everyone so much, but his is a new chapter in our lives. We are excited about finding a place closer to our friends and family, where we can visit and hang out more often. We can't wait to have a house to call our own again, or an apartment, or whatever it may end up being. We haven't had a place all our own since we lived in the studio apartment just after getting back together. I think that was in 2010, whew! It hurts to have to start over, but we are trying not to be discouraged. We have confidence in ourselves and each other, and we're gonna be just fine

the point is

DISCLAIMER: This post contains material that may be considered graphic or inappropriate to some individuals. Continue at your own risk. You have been warned. Ok.Thanks.Carry on. My aunt, my dad's sister, came to stay last night. She has never stayed the night before, in fact we haven't ever seen her too much, holidays and whatnot. Several times a year. She is a nice lady, but she has some issues, we'll leave it at that. My problem is this: as soon as we arrived home last night, around 9:30 at night, after being gone since 9 that morning, the moment we see each other, the first words out of her mouth are, "you're poor bunny rabbits are freezing to death out there!" Imagine my long exasperated sigh here. Having farm animals isn't the same as having pets. I think Jon Katz said it best in a post last week, "I can give them shelter, warm water, good hay, I cannot make them comfortable or keep them warm, they accept their lives." We raise rabbits

luna acres

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