Getting out campsite sorted has been underway for a while now. The main pillars of comfort have been established. There is a place to sleep, a kitchen, and even an outhouse to bathe in. To me the finishing touches to a living space are planting a landscape of life and colors.
The main project of these last few weeks has been making an outdoor "room" with a little fire pit. A couple of years ago I began making this earthen bench which I decided to add a couple of layers to last week.
With the remaining mixture from a recent cob project I have added a few more flower beds to the edges of the open-are kitchen.
I prepped the space by digging out a bowl shape of the existing gravel and spraying the entire area down with hose water before I was ready to begin shaping the cob walls.
Cob is similar to cement, in a way. Unlike cement though, cob is handmade and accessible to pretty much anyone for free or nearly. Most people consider cob to be a mixture of clay, sand, and natural fibers like straw.
Another main difference between cement and cob is that cob can be worked with bare hands. Much less resistant to the weather, cob is sure to wear down after a few years. But, as this is a natural landscape of dirt, soil, plants, and rocks, these cob borders will simple melt in with the elements around it.
I created four rounded borders at the base of each pillar, let it dry for a couple of days then began the fun part of filling the flower beds with soil and plants.
My co-gardener chose a mixture of native plants and drought resistant flowers to populate these new garden areas. And after watering the soil in well I planted the yarrow, sage, and California mugwort.
To protect the cob mix I will paint them with a clay infused lime wash. So far I have painted the two on the sunny side of the kitchen while the shady side dries fully. It is exciting to see these cob sculptures evolve, change, and get covered in my favorite plants.