[Cob] uses for wood ashes, no soap

[Ron Becker]

Other than soap is there somethig else to do with wood ashes besides 
put them in a compost heap. We do that some but in NM the soil is 
pretty alkaline so a little goes a long way in that dept. Anything 
else.

Ron
Those who question global warming have a financial or emotional 
interest in the status quo.


On Jan 31, 2007, at 12:30 PM, Ron Becker wrote:

> Hi Travis. With out seeing a jar test of the local my comments could 
> be pretty far off base. It is possible that if someone were hell bent 
> of build cob in your area, the amount of added clay required could be 
> easily transported in a car [as more was needed] as the percentage of 
> clay you need to add to make a good clay soil isn't that much. Here in 
> NM on this particular site the jar test told me I only had about 10%  
> clay. This was a surprise I thought this area was adobe heaven. But 
> the point is a few shovels of pure kentucky ball clay added to a mix 
> did the trick. This kind of clay and most others comes in 50lb bags 
> and you could get quite a few in a car trunk. That said, if the soil 
> is low on clay and full of silt it might require more. And that said, 
> there is a very astute point made in The Hand Sculpted House, that 
> it's best utilize what's already on your site. SO, if your local 
> ceramic supply house is 80 miles away in a direction you don't ever 
> go.....
>
> Stay warm up there,
>
> Ron
> Those who question global warming have a financial or emotional 
> interest in the status quo.
>
>
> On Jan 31, 2007, at 7:12 AM, Travis Miller wrote:
>
>> I live in south east VT in Brattleboro.  There are several straw bale 
>> homes in the area and a natural building group.  
>> http://www.potkettleblack.com/bang/index.html
>> I'm not aware of any cob homes in the area.  My understanding is that 
>> we don't have very good soil for making cob here.  Lots of sand not 
>> much clay.  Any cob building would require bringing the material in 
>> from some distance away.  That may not be the case in other parts of 
>> NH and VT.
>>
>> Travis
>>
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>