June 5, 2015
Once again we
want to put out an appeal to anyone who is
ready for a Brazilian
adventure and eager to learn about cob or desirous of participating in a
permaculture project – come join us for a week or a month, or even longer. To
come from the US you will need a minimum of around $2000 for airfare and incidentals. We will
pick you up at the airport in Brasilia and host you (good food and wonderful
sleeping in a quiet dark space where the stream gurgles by and the stars jump
out at you at night) in exchange for working alongside us, a few hours most days, very
flexible. We have people scheduled for this Fall and Winter, but right now
June, July and August are wide open. Contact us through the Comment section below, or by email or Facebook.
A new phase begins
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| This is where we left off at the beginning of the rainy season. We covered the cob to protect it from the daily, sometimes torrential rains that we expect between November and April. |
The
rainy season is finally coming to a close – the June 2nd full moon
may have brought in the dry season - and we’ve taken the cover off the cob
house. On Monday, June 1, we mixed
our first mud cob and started building again. It took us four days to complete
a full round and now we’re ready to work on the floor for a few days – a new
task for us.
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| We started at the upper side, covering the foundation stones. |
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| We wet down the dry cob so as to lay down a new layer. |
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| The earth is waiting on the tarp to be trampled into cob. |
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| About three inches higher on either side of the doorway. |
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| A complete circle added. The cob at the far right starts at floor level, behind the pails, about 18 inches. The outside walls have a high foundation to protect them from the rain, so there's only three inches of cob on the high end. |
We’re
moving slowly, a bit tentatively since about five and half months ago I entered
a period of chronic pain caused by degenerative disc and osteoarthritis symptoms,
both cervical and lumbar. I’m finally better but more limited in my activities
than before. I’ve had to give up some of my jobs such as tree hole and trench
digging, and heavy weeding.
Re-cap
for those who missed earlier phases (you can, of course, go back in the blog
and see our work from the beginning, including references to some of the
sources we’ve used):
At
this point we’re building the first bedroom of a two bedroom house with
bathroom, open space for living room and eating area, and ample porch/patio
area.
We determined the correct mix of earth, sand and straw for our cob mixture, and began building up the walls. Guy and I can do it alone, but we’ve
enjoyed the company and help of several people: Sofia, Camila, Kimberly, Lisa,
Hale, and Cesar. Victor, Sofia and some neighbors helped with the arduous task
of collecting stones along the road and creeks.
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| Sofia and Kimberly putting down the first layer of cob. |
We’ve
spent less than US$500 (R$1500) for construction grade gravel, several bags of
lime for the foundation mortar, and a load of stones to continue the foundation
for the second bedroom. Soon we will need to build or buy doors and windows,
and eventually wood and tiles for the roof. We’ll probably also pay for outside
help – we hope to move more quickly now in order to finish at least the two
bedrooms by the end of August, but even better the whole house by the end on
the year!
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| The pit where we get our earth, an appropriate mixture of clay and sand, is close enough to the building site. |
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| The sand mound that provides additional sand for the cob is left over from when our brick house was built two and a half years ago. |
What
else is new? I’m in the middle of harvesting cotton from one plant and coffee
from two little trees.
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| Cotton and coffee. |
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| Newly planted banana sprouting a new leaf. Stay tuned for the next chapter: GOATS! |
