[Cob] Making good cob

[Dognyard]

Earthed wrote:

> 2. Lumps of subsoil with very high clay content do not usualy 'dissolve'
> when soaked. Which is a shame, because it means if your soil has a lot of
> what looks like potters clay in it you are going to have more work to do!

We have this kind of soil! I can literally make sculpture with it with
very little amendment. Since we live with this soil every day, we
learned a few things about it. One is how to break it down easier. Let
nature do it. We have bitterly cold winters, which I believe helps the
breaking-down process.

If you can plan ahead, you dig it out and simply pile it...then let it
sit over the winter. By next spring - ta-da! - it becomes very granular
and easy to use. Near as I can tell, it's simply the action of freezing
and thawing working on the water content in the clay.

Karen in Alberta