using braken in cob

Hi,

We looking into build a cob house at some point, but are gonna start with a cob oven. We have plenty of clay on our land but, living on the west coast of Scotland a lack of available dry straw. Has anyone tried using dried bracken or reeds to make cob?

I don't have an answer for you but it would certainly be interesting to find out if bracken is a suitable lternatuve given how abundant it is.

According to a website I just looked at, the straw provides tensile strength that holds the wall together. Bracken and reed are reasonably strong I imagine so it would definitely be worth at least testing.

If you were to build a larger structure and wanted to forgo straw or alternatives altogether then rammed earth may be an option.

Greetings.

Long time reader here, but this is my first post.....  

According to this article I just read from a link in yesterday's permies email - a great many different things can be added to clay to create suitable building materials:

Low-Cost Construction Techniques That Use Materials From the Earth

I have a straw bale house and while I did use straw, I also used horse and cow manure for both the enzyme binding and the fibers provided, shedded hair from my dogs, cats and horses and on one inside wall, even some small feathers from chickens and ducks.