Permaculture - Turning straw and sand into a loveseat!

On Saturday, we were told by our visiting teacher, Massey, to write a name badge for ourselves. 'Write down whatever you want to be known by for the next 36 hours." I've always thought it would be interesting to try on a new name. To will on some better weather, my weekend name became "Sunbeam". I responded well to it as did the weather!!

We were learning about alternative building. Some clay-based soil, some straw and some sand from a nearby beach were going to transform themselves - with the help of our hands - into a bench for the Esalen garden! After some discussion, it was decided that there was a lack of discretely placed benches for snuggles around the property - so we'd create a love seat. Alas, the spot we were given to install our creation, is close to the garbage and when the wind blows a certain way the fragrance of decomposing garden mulch wafts over. I suggested planting some aphrodisiac plants, such as jasmine, close to our love bench, so that sweet, heady, romantic aromas would permeate the air.

Massey showed us how to create cob - the natural building material we would form the bench with. The recipe goes something like this ..

1 - The mixing bowl is a piece of tarp laid out flat on the ground
2 - Ingredients are 1 part clay-based soil to 1 part sand (this may vary according to the texture of the local sand/ soil). Water and straw are added to get the texture just right.
3 - First of all, the dry ingredients of the sand and soil are mixed together. This was done by kicking it around with our bare feet - and then doing interesting shaking and folding manoeuvres with the tarp.
4 - Next buckets of water were added until the goo was the texture of cheesecake. It was a total sensual delight to be mixing the mud with our bare feet. We spontaneously ended up doing tribal dances and singing African rhythms to help us with the task.
5 - The final ingredient to add was the straw. More mixing with the feet and tarp folding followed. By this stage feet and ankles were mudbaked with the straw attaching itself like feathers. We were told that when the mixture looks like "a dead seal" (or more recognisably, to those not familiar with dead seals, a giant poo) we were getting there. The next step was to see whether the material was dense enough. To test we stood on top of the dead seal/ giant poo to see if the structure would support us or swallow our feet like quicksand. When all four of my group were able to stand on top of the mound with our arms around each other, we knew we'd succeeded!!

So, now we had our raw material. Our leaders guided us on how to shape it into a bench. Twenty-four hours later, our bench has a flowing curve to it and the start of a backrest. A design team are working on finding the perfect angle and curve for the back of the bench to ensure optimum comfort.

Working so physically in the sun was exhausting! I have newfound respect for all those who work in the building industry. Much though I love the look and feel of natural building, I think at this stage of my permaculture studies, I'll be hiring someone else to do the heavy work for me!