Inner City Farmer

I just heard about and signed up for an Earthen Plaster workshop hosted by the good folks at Design Build Live. It’s such great timing for me because I am eager to start plastering the inside of the new room I made using cob, but my plastering skills are a little rough. I’m looking forward to learning more about the art from Tempe Sikora, who specializes in natural plaster as well as custom European faux finishing. There is still room in the workshop, which is being held Saturday August 23 from 9-5 in a house in East Austin. For more information, contact Gayle Borst at gayle@designbuildlive.org.

Who knows from one day to the next what project I’ll be working on? It all depends upon factors out of my control. Now that it’s so freaking hot I find myself doing far more inside activities. With the kitchen window complete, I’m now preparing to work on the interior of the new Garage Room, aka the Man Cave.

I had envisioned using cob to make my interior walls, but was set straight during a conversation with Tony Beurskens, an itinerant cobbing guru and natural building artist I met at the Natural Building Colloquium. He suggested I attach lathe to the exposed studs and use cellulose or denim as insulation behind it. On top of the lathe I could smear an earthen plaster just like stucco. This immediately made so much sense to me. It will provide the same look and feel as cob with less work and waste of interior space. I can still build in niches and it will be healthy and affordable.

Meanwhile I dream of building soil and planting shrubs and trees. As much as I want vegetation that I can eat, I also wish to be surrounded by plants that lift my spirit. I am particularly looking for bushes that flower during this time of year when the oppressive heat is trying to drain your will to live. Texas Sage is a native shrub that really comes to life during the summer. This one, at the intersection of Nelray and Chesterfield, is going off right now. It makes me want to plant a row of them on my front lawn….

It’s hard to see ourselves for who we truly are. It must be some biological thing. When we sing in the shower, we think we sound great. When we have b.o., we never seem to think we smell as bad as we really do. I am no different. I think my house looks like the coolest place ever. I mean, I’ve got an arch for an entrance and I just increased the square footage of my house by like 30 percent, using mostly natural materials and doing all the work myself.

But then there are those days where I see the mess I’ve made and have yet to clean up–just look at all that sand! I see the junk I’ve stacked up along the side of my house, waiting for a use that will keep it out of the landfill. I smell the stink emanating from the sand pile in front of my house because my cats think it’s a giant litter box. These thoughts, this doubt, were racing through my mind as I went to introduce myself to Chris and Megan, who just moved in two doors down from me. “They must think I’m a real freak,” I was thinking as I said hello.

But instead of scorn or judgment this is what came out of Megan’s mouth instead: “Do you think you could teach me to do that sometime?” She was pointing at the front porch I made out of cob. You’ve got to love it when that happens.

“Sure,” I said. “I can teach you as soon as I start building a cob tool shed in my backyard.”

Now that I have have some help I am more excited than ever to start that project, but first I need to finish plastering the exterior of the wall of the room that was a garage and is now called The Man Cave. I put a second coat on today, this one sandier, smoother, less prone to cracking. It’s looks pretty damn good, but that opinion is based on my own vision and could be slightly prejudiced.

Almost finished the first layer of plaster on the Garage Wall Project. I am getting quicker and more proficient at slapping the stuff on. I did myself no favors when I made a wall with countless windows and an arch my first plastering project. I still haven’t finished that one, and what I have done isn’t very pretty. But my garage wall is looking good, at least to my forgiving eye. Yes, there are cracks but these will get buffed out once I apply the finishing coat, and, yes, the wall sports three different colors but this will be rectified when I paint the entire house (Project #89).

Like cobbing, the key to plastering seems to be figuring out the texture of the perfect mix. Too much sand and it doesn’t stick to the wall very well, too little and the resultant cracks (it’s nearly impossible to avoid them entirely) will be more pronounced. I know a batch is ready when it begins to resemble a Wendy’s Frosty and the color (at least with the sand I use) is nearly the same as well.

I’m pretty proud of myself. One of the most essential tools you need for plastering is a “hawk,” defined by my dictionary as “a small board or metal sheet with a handle on the underside used to hold mortar.” They sell them at Home Depot for about twenty bucks, but I made one for free out of a scrap piece of plywood and the end of a mop handle. All I did was drill a small hole in the center of the plywood, and then I jammed into that hole the part of the mop handle that screws into the mop head. I keep expecting it to break in two, but the darn thing refuses to die. I’ve used it about fifteen times now, and it’s in as good shape now as it was the day I made it. Another simple solution.