Jeff East

My wife and I are well into the planning of a new life in our cob home, and are thinking about building a test bench/ rocket stove in the backyard. I was not though too enthusiastic about having to build a shelter for the bench. I guess my question is would it be advisable to build such a structure without some sort of overhead covering? We are just wanting to get our hands dirty and figure out what our soil can do!

Thanks for the feedback guys, I am glad to see that we are not totally alone out here. I spent some time today walking the property, it's about 2.5 acres in a former cow pasture, reasonably level ground and most of the old fencing is still intact. I have yet to do soil samples but I feel pretty good about the quality of the earth here. The new question that I have is as you can see the land is pretty exposed, and vulnerable to some mighty breezes that whistle down the valley. What is a good way to shield the house from the winds and still maintain the view? I was thinking that since the winds here come from the West, and the house would be facing South, the rear wall could be straw bale faced with thick cob and maybe even sone reinforcing field stones, we have tons. Anyway, still in the sketching out process. Hope to meet more Virginia cobbers here, I would love to get a group together when it comes time to start the cob dancing!

I know it's getting late in the year now, but I am hoping to find some folks here in southwestern Virginia that have built or are currently building a cob structure. My wife & I are hoping to get ours underway within the next year or two, and would like to learn locally!