Cob retaining wall

[Eric D. Hart]

Hello everyone:
        Just thinking of what cob can be used for short of building a house
or shed.  I'm involved with a community garden initiative in Minneapolis and
we may have to put in raised beds on some of the lots we can garden.  If we
end up constructing the raised beds, the 'standard' way to create them is to
used treated lumber.  This kind of lumber is expensive and uses toxic
materials to make it rot proof so I would like to avoid using it.  Could we
build a small cob wall that is a small retaining wall to form the raised
bed?  I don't know how the cob would hold up to the water and roots but it
might work.  Maybe if you put a small edge of gravel between the wall and
the soil that would help.  If the cob would work, it would be a community
building project to construct the walls rather than just having someone with
a power saw construct the walls.  

Eric D. Hart			
Community Eco-design Network	  
Minneapolis, MN  USA		
(612) 305-2899 
erichart at mtn.org			
http://www.tc.umn.edu/nlhome/m037/kurtdand/cen