[Cob] exterior earth floor?

[pirate king]

I'm looking for a solution for the floor of the patio to the south of 
our cob cabin in northern Spain. The compacted clay subsoil is sticky 
and muddy when it rains, so I laid down some sandy gravel, but that's 
not ideal either - it's dusty and not very comfortable, especially in 
bare feet. Paving stones have been proposed but I am wondering if there 
is some way of doing an exterior earth floor that would be more 
resilient and flexible than stone, but which wouldn't be either dusty or 
muddy. Any ideas?

Thanks

Robert
(see our cabin at www.lesspress.com)