[Cob] alfalfa and weeds

[Ronald C. Williams]

Though Charmaine didn't elaborate, her reference to "mousefood" was an 
important one according to everything I have seen.  It is my understanding 
that one of the main reasons straw is preferable to hay is that straw, once 
the grain has been removed, is basically just another form of cellulose - 
essentially the same as wood.  The difference with hay and weeds is that 
they include a lot of potential food for insects and rodents.  Even if you 
are planning to seal hay/weeds off between layers of cob or natural 
plasters, it would be practically impossible to avoid some small openings 
or to keep them from developing over time.  I guess this would be most 
important if you are building shelter to live in as opposed to a shed or 
other structure, though.

I, too, would be intrigued by the discussion of insulating ceilings/roofs 
so I second Mary Lou's suggestion!


At 08:02 PM 7/19/2004, Mary Lou McFarland wrote:
>What a great topic!!!  I haven't seen this many people jump on board for 
>awhile now.  I have to bring in another vote for the weeds.  I'm familiar 
>with alfalfa and when it dries then it REALLY flakes, so I'd vote "no" on 
>it for that reason.  The weeds on the other hand are very tough.  My good 
>ol' prairie weeds can slice your hands up when you try to pull them 
>especially when they start to dry  Which takes me back to another persons 
>insight that the original bale structures were hay not straw.  Good point 
>and I have to add that it wasn't cultured hay but tough prairie hay that 
>was just the grass the settlers found growing when they arrived, like big 
>and little bluestem and prairie peas and kansas gayfeathers.  What some of 
>us now would call weeds.  I had thought that the reason for using straw 
>was that it was hollow and therefore held air, and it was the entrapped 
>air that gave the insulative properties.  (Sorry, I can't remember who 
>made what statement so bear with me, I'm not trying to be rude)  Someone 
>else thought that using the weeds as a lightclay medium would work 
>well.  I like that idea because I have about four acres of tough grass 
>that needs cut right now and if used that way , I could store it as a hay 
>mound instead of fussing with a baler at all.   I also liked the reminder 
>that we might be getting into a little overkill with worrying about heat 
>transfer through walls when 80% goes through the roof.  Maybe we should 
>shift our focus a little?  Let's hear some great roofing 
>ideas!!!    Honey, I say give those weeds a try and let us all know how it 
>worked out.  In five years we might all be looking for some weeds just 
>because of your input.  Good luck!
>
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