Monday we all had an exhausting but fulfilling day. In order to make the shed a more weather-proof place for seeding, Mark decided we should build adobe walls around the sides. Large windows would be left in the east and west facing walls so that sunlight could reach the seedlings that would be growing inside. Adobe construction uses all natural materials. First we dug up some rich soil and added leaves, water, hay, and oxen manure. In order to mix these ingredients together, Mark and I donned rubber boots and began stamping about in the mud. The proper name for the mixture is Cob. And the mixing process is called the Cob Jig. Or, as we oh-so-maturely preferred to call it, the Poo Dance. Mark and I would grab each others forearms, lean back so our heels were digging into the mud, and then swing each other around in a circle, stamping our feet into the mud and pulling them out again with a satisfying squelch as the liquid stuff trying to suck our boots from our feet. Once the cob was fully mixed we would collapse panting onto the nearest bench.
Where we wanted to build each wall we would first lay a rubble base made from stones, broken bricks, chunks of concrete, and broken ceramic scavenged from around the property. The base of rubble will allow water to pass under the wall without being soaked up through the adobe, which would weaken it. Once the rubble base was laid, we began to shovel handfuls of cob out of buckets and smack it down on top of the rubble. At first, digging our hands into poo-mud was gross, but it quickly became hilarious and fun instead. We shaped the wall with our hands, patting, squeezing, and knuckling it into compliance. The first wall rose amazingly quickly. We used glass bottles that Mark and Sol had been collecting in the wall as well. The bottles allowed the wall to gain height more quickly, as well as making the wall more aesthetically pleasing.
Throughout the afternoon Mark and I repeated the Poo Dance more than a dozen times. By the end of the day we had brought the east-facing wall to window height, and had begun to raise two other walls as well. We were all exhausted.
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| Laura, working on the bottle wall in its early stages |
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| Alix and Mark doin the poo dance |
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| Everyone hard at work on the walls in various stages |
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| Josh building up an adobe wall |
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| Mark playing in the mud |
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| Toby working on the wall |
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| Alix getting her hands dirty |
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Toby and Laura finishing the bottle wall
That's is an Amazing Hostel is it in Buenos Aires? I would like to be there someday!!
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