Hello all,
Long time reader first time poster...lol. Well as the topic states I am relocating to the Okanogan Highlands soon, specifically somewhere between Republic and Danville, the specific location is still up in the air. I was hoping that some individuals in the area could tell me whether they feel the winters are to long and hard for cob construction to work, with or without utilizing some straw bale as well. Secondly and I know this could vary by the feet but generally how does the soil lend itself to cob and or general clay manufactured items IE a Rocket Mass Stove. I have seen numerous people here on permies calling this area home and am looking forward to moving up in July. Relocating from the far west Texas desert back to Washington as I grew up there and work presented an opportunity to make it happen.
I am getting ready to move into a larger home with acreage and luckily I already have a chicken coop in place though a garden will have to be placed though my wife has been reading a lot into "the square foot garden" ideology and is really loving it. I want to dig/sink a greenhouse into the ground a bit and heat it in the late winter via a rocket mass stove. I am hoping my wife (who was an educator previously) whom is a homemaker to take some classes in Tonasket. While the area is to cold for a true cob construction I hope to incorporate the building technique into future projects. Also I am hoping to get her over to take a course on rocket stove construction. Of course all of this would help us connect with other people in the area as we are really marooned not knowing anyone here.