Volunteers for Black Oaks Center’s Savanna site created an elegant and extremely sturdy entrance gate and garden wall at two weekend workshops held in fall 2008. Participants built earth bag walls during the first weekend, then covered them with cob the next weekend. Many people camped out on the beautiful Savanna sharing stories, fun, and food with other natural building enthusiasts.
Tamping polypropolene bags full with the silty, sandy soil that the Black Oaks Savanna boasts provided a modular building material stacked many times over to form a monolithic wall. The wall turned and curved, and the height wavered as well. The cob plaster unified the modules of earth bag, filled out the “grout” spaces between the brick-like stacks of bags, and defined the curves and undulations of the wall’s design.
Cob is made of clay, sand and straw. It is a simple mix of minimally processed materials that delivers a durable and stable wall covering that is truly delightful to work with. Please visit Black Oaks’ web page: Black Oaks Workshops
Drawings by Dan Hatch of ADPSR