The cob oven

And a few moments of leisure, including "fishing" in the pond, snuggling in the hammock, and baking pizza in the outdoor cob oven (even though our cob oven is designed to be primarily a bread oven, we do make loads of pizza).  The cob oven is based on typical adobe-like construction, made by hand of local natural materials: clay, sand and straw.  It is a simple, affordable project that can be done in a number of weekends.  The dome, with the height of door being aprox. 63% of the height of the dome, allows for proper air flow as there is no chimney.  Kiko Denzer's book Build your own earth oven; or Becky Bee's The cob builder's handbook, are great resources for anyone interested in getting into cob.  I am inspired by the Mud Girls Natural Building Collective (based in BC), whose website shows beautiful examples of walls, ovens, outhouses, and even entire homes made of cob.  At Little City Farm we will be holding a cob workshop ( in June, so check it out if you are local and have interest.