Cob: Bermed cob??

[Dorethy F Hancock]

Hi folks,
I'm new to this chatroom, or whatever you call it.  I plan to build a cob
retreat center (it will also be my home) in the Spring.  Since I plan to
berm the house on the north, I don't think that side can be cob.  Tell me
if I'm wrong, but I think that will be too much moisture, too close.  I
believe that the answer may lie in rammed tires on the north and curving
around partway on the west and east sides.  Does anyone have an idea
whether there will be interface problems between this and the cob of the
remainder of the building?  I have three books on cob, including the new
Hand-Sculpted House, and I love them all; but none of them addresses this
situation--only a bit about doing a tire foundation.

Incidentally, by spring I'll be 60, I've retired early from being a
reference librarian, to do something else while I'm still young enough,
and  I hope to do this building myself, with a LOT of help from my
friends!  I have not been able to find anybody in the Midwest who is
doing cob.  I'd dearly love to know if there is.  Otherwise, I guess I'll
be a pioneer, like my grandparents were (my grandparents lived in a
dugout in west-central Kansas for a while before doing the land run on
the Cherokee strip in Oklahoma before statehood!)  I'd be very willing to
do a trade of work with anybody in the fairly nearby states surrounding
Kansas.

Oh--one more thing.  I'd like to get some practice by building a cob
toilet ("red or white??" --if you're old enough to catch that, ha!) 
Actually, I thought part of the building could be a tool storage shed,
with the toilet in the corner, or on one end.  Any clues on how to start
the pit and foundation?

Thanks!

Dorethy from Kansas

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