[Cob] cob raised beds?

[Marlin]

We used Urbanite for the foundation of our Cob Wall and it works pretty sweet, cut a score line with a concrete saw then pry up the sidewalk or driveway piece, put something like another small chunk under the crack (slightly to one side) and hit it with a sledge hammer - bang - perfect limestone blocks. They're flat on one side and rough on the other so you can chooose your surfaces depending on what you want, it turns into more of a stone mason type job, but very applicable to use in conjuction with Cob. For the Outta The Box project we chose to mortar them with Roman Cement (lime/sand/burnt clay) but you'll need to leave that exposed to air before backfilling as it needs to cure.

Best,

Marlin


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-----Original Message-----
From:     Teresa Banks <tbanks98926 at yahoo.com>
Sent:     Tue, 25 May 2004 21:51:55 -0700 (PDT)
To:       coblist at deatech.com
Subject:  Re: [Cob] cob raised beds?

Hmmmm.... What about Urbanite, broken concrete?  That might be a little easier to find than stone, and if you use cob to mortar it in, it might work just fine.  I kind of like this idea, and I will keep it in mind for the future....
 
Teresa

Amanda Peck <ap615 at hotmail.com> wrote:


That sounds wonderful. We've got ledge stone here, but the pieces tend to 
be huge and heavy beyond belief. People do move them--I was in a restaurant 
at noon where the steps between two of the dining rooms were some huge 
stones--4-6 inches thick--the largest over 5 square feet, in different 
colors.

You're right, might even be a little easier than a rock foundation, no 
worse, certainly. And gorgeous. At raised bed size, and a bit thinner, 
they wouldn't be too dreadful to move.

................

Yun Que responds to those of us yammering about tires.

Cat here, In my area there are many cut stone. I have collected them
for years and have made my raised beds from these. In areas that do
not have the cut variety there may be stone available to dry stack.
It takes some doing to dry stack but it looks beautiful. It's about
the same as doing the foundation to your cob only not as wide. When I
lived in CA the mexican workers were very talented building these.
The paths between the beds can be done of sand and lime it makes for
less weeding.
for the good of all C.



		
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