Cob cob workshop and work-weekends!

[Ashley Gilbert]

Please feel free to forward the following message!

Hands on NATURAL BUILDING at Moonshadow

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Work-weekends:
October 2-4: Pouring an Earthen Floor - first step
Sliding scale:  $30-$90
October 23-25: Making a Sod Roof
Sliding scale: $30-$90

Workshop:
November 13-18: Plastering, Pigmentation and Earthen Floor
Sliding Scale:  minimum $240 - maximum $360

We will be completing a small cob structure started this July at our first natural building workshop.  Poured earthen floor, earthen plastering, sod roof and glasswork will all help get the structure on its way to being a livable home for this winter.

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LEARN THE BASIC TECHNIQUES OF HOW TO DO:
A poured earthen floor (a mix of clay, sand and straw)
Earthen plastering and pigmentation
Landscaping of an earthbermed structure
Simple door and window construction
Sod roof and Stained-glass work
and much more!

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WORK WEEKENDS: 

October 2-4: Pouring an Earthen Floor - we'll be pouring the first layer of  a floor for our cob structure out of sand, clay, straw and water - similar mix to the cob walls but we'll be making a floor!

October 23-25:  Making a Sod Roof - we'll be creating a garden on our roof!  well, the first steps, anyway...  the top soil from the building site has been saved since early spring - we'll be putting that same top soil on the roof of the building.  In a sense we'll have lifted the forest floor and put a home beneath it!

We're only asking for $10/day and are expecting folks to help out with cooking, cleaning and working (and playing) all weekend long!  Don't worry - we've got homebrew for Saturday night!  


WORKSHOP:

November 13-18: Plastering, Pigmentation and Earthen Floor - we¹ll be learning the basic techniqes of plastering for walls and natural pigmentation for painting.  We will also be working on the doors and windows of the stucture, landscaping, finishing the poured earthen floor and planning the interior!

Instructor: Tom Moestl is a co-founding member of Earthhaven, a permaculture community, located in N.C.  He has been in the stucco/plaster trade for 14 years and was trained by old world artisans in a trade that has been largely replaced with drywall and synthetic stucco. Tom has been playing in the clay at Earthhaven, creating marble finishes using clay and natural mineral dyes.

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Moonshadow is a 27 year-old, family-based community in the Sequatchie Valley near Dunlap, TN.  We have organic gardens, orchards and vineyards and all of our structures were built with natural and local materials by family and friends of Moonshadow.  

Call or email us for directions or if you have any questions - you'll want to bring a tent, bedding, a flashlight, indoor shoes, outdoor shoes and shoes you don't mind slipping cobby feet in!

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Moonshadow and the Sequatchie Valley Institute
(423) 949-5922 * mediarights at bledsoe.net