Ref.: Cob: Hi! Newbie from Florida

[ortoneda]

Well,yes, I've used pine needles but never in cob, in one occasion I made a cement-lime floor with sawdust and pine needles, the sawdust (wet) was for longer curing and for a gentler surface ( Rob Roy's recipe). The pine needles were mostly for fancy. Afterwards we  of course found a thousand good reasons for having put them in, but let's be honest, it was an afterthought. Pine needles simply don't have the flexibility to make a decent structure in cob. And for plaster it would be too hard and "rebel". If you had simply done a small batch of cob you would easily realize all that. I would strongly reccommend you to try cob the tried and proved way before customizing and experimenting. Just to avoid frustration for yourself and a bad name for cob. Cheers!
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