[Cob] Another mixing way.....

[Lee Courtney]

Single woman here, fast approaching middle age, back and legs get tired 
easier than they used to, unwilling to spend money on mixing machines and 
don't know anybody who has a cow.

So this is my method:  I use a wheelbarrow and fill it with dirt and grass 
clippings (been dry here, straw is hard to come by). Then I sit on a stool 
and mix the dry mix by hand, breaking up clods of dirt/clay and mixing in 
the grass.  I have a bucket of water next to me so I tip the wheelbarrow, 
sit on the ground, and start making "bread".  Sift the dry ingredients and 
use water from my bucket to make the dough and I knead it with the palm of 
my hand and turn and mix, add dirt if necessary, add clippings as necessary, 
etc.  Since I am sitting next to the wall I'm working on, it's easy to take 
the "batter" and plop it on the wall and knead it into what exists there. 
For me, this saves time, I always get the right mix, (with a tarp I would 
either make it too watery or too dry and spent alot of time adding a little 
more water, a little more dirt, a little more water, etc..), plus it has 
saved my back and my legs and I don't need to walk back and forth, back and 
forth.  The tarp is now a canopy that I move with me to stay in the shade 
:-)

Best of luck with whichever way works best for you :-)

LC