Cob House Project Volunteer.

Hello! I have no experience with cob but I REALLY want to learn and get involved.  I dream of building a cob house for myself one day! I want to learn more about natural building but am struggling a bit with finding my community. I thought I would try my luck here and see how it goes. Is there anyone near the Alexandria, Virginia area who is planing on building a cob house and is looking for volunters to help out? I'd love to join and learn

Emily,

I live just outside of Warrenton, VA and love the idea of cob and other natural building!

While I don't know anyone personally, have you looked into Sigi Koko (https://buildnaturally.com/)? She is based out of Maryland and does workshops on a building project throughout PA, NY, MD, WV, and VA. While she focuses on Straw bail, she has a workshop for just about any part of natural build, including cob walls. I've done a couple workshops with her; she is a great teacher and a wonderful person! Her classes do tend to fill up very quickly (she only has a couple sections that aren't sold out) so you need to register early for the courses that interest you.

Outside of that, I too would love to lend a hand if anyone needs a hand with a build! Maybe we'll bump into each other someday Emily!

Billy

Emily, welcome to the forum.

You might enjoy this book by the Mud Girls:

https://permies.com/wiki/87449/Mudgirls-Manifesto-Handbuilt-Homes-Handcrafted

Hi Emily!

Have you considered joining the Permaculture Technology Jamboree at Wheaton Labs this year?  The PTJ tickets are Buy One Get One Free for a limited time, but you can also get 2-day passes and 1-week passes

I know Uncle Mud will be there and he is an expert at Cob and other natural building techniques.