Green Building Workshop

Building a Backyard Cob Oven

Saturday - August 22, 2009

(Rain Date - August 23)

1 - 4:30 P.M.

Location: Nisse Farm, Manteno, Illinois

Learn how to build a cob bread or pizza oven

using clay, sand and straw.

Natural Building methods such as Cob, creatively utilize local, unprocessed, abundant, and/or reused materials to create beautiful, extremely efficient structures. Building with cob does not use corn cobs but is an old English term meaning "lump" and is the material used for many of the cottages in the UK.

This is a hands and feet-on workshop so be ready to get down and dirty. The foundation will be in place and ready to begin work on the oven structure.

Topics covered:

Foundation
Sand Form
Clay Plasters
Thermal Cob Layer
Insulative Cob Layer
Roof Types

Cost is $45 for the afternoon and includes a brief tour and talk about constructing Nisse Farm's Straw Bale building in the picture to the right.

If you are planning to attend please call Julie
at 708-828-4325.
--Thank You --

Anna Wolfson, a Chicago native, founded Wolfson Earth Finishes, a natural arts and construction company, upon returning to Chicago in 2006. She was first introduced to Natural Building while specializing in outdoor installation art and natural dyes at Oberlin College in Ohio. Upon graduation, Anna trained in natural building techniques under Chris Fox, owner of Fox Natural Building, and in fine finish plasters under Marcia Wolff, owner of Design Council, under Bill and Athena Steen of the Canelo Project, and is now a preferred applicator of American Clay (AC). An avid DIYer, Anna collaborates with raw natural materials in the creation of vibrant artwork and architectural elements. As one of the few Natural Builders in the Chicagoland area, Anna teaches seminars and workshops on Natural Building technologies, holds quarterly Natural Building interest group meetings and activities, and contributes her skills as a contractor and artist on residential and commercial projects alike. To learn more about Anna and Wolfson Earth Finishes, please explore her website at www.wolfsonearth.com.