Building up the cordwood walls with a cob mixture has been a very rewarding and pleasant summer work experience for the family. We chose this method of building because it would allow the entire family to be involved. There are many hours of labor needed, but that labor is not intensive, and even 3 year old Johnny can help out now and again.

We try to mix and build 6 batches of cob each day. Each batch consists of 5 gallons clay soaked in water, 5 gallons sawdust, 5 gallons dry manure, 5 gallons sand, 2-1/3 c. flour glue/EM, 1/3 c. psyllium powder, and 1 tsp. EM ceramic powder. 1-2 gallons of water are added as well. We have shallow dishes dug in the ground where we lay 8x10 tarps and mix the ingredients. The manure and clay get set up to soak for a little while before mixing. The mixing is done by stomping with bare feet, like treading grapes, and lifting the tarp to mix in the ingredients. It takes about 10-15 minutes to mix a batch.