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Natural raised beds or Adobe for fun and profit

Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html


----- Original Message -----
From: margaret lauterbach <mlaute@micron.net>
To: Square Foot Gardening List <sqft@listbot.com>
Sent: Tuesday, May 02, 2000 9:04 AM
Subject: Re: Natural raised beds


> Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html
>
> This is very interesting. Over 50 years of reading that clay, straw and
> water mixed makes adobe, Olin says there's more to it than that. Now I'm
> curious about what the "more" is...Margaret L, and yes, I am familiar with
> adobe houses and commercial buildings. They do a better job of that in
Taos
> than in Phoenix, IMO.

"Modern" adobe is can be "stabalized" with concrete or asphalt.
Earlier adobe sometimes had a thin protective coat of plaster or
concrete like stuff.  I have also heard of oils being applied to the
outside to make it repel water.  The bricks that require the most
protection are those in constant contact with moisture.  Normally
only the bottom in an adobe house, but also one side in an adobe
rasied bed.  (quick web search on "adobe walls")

I don't know what they actually used on the old adobe buildings I
saw in New Mexico but I do remember seeing some walls that
had been up for something like 100 years that I saw had large
cracks (looked like a car hit it) and the inside was apparently
eroding away in the rain.  (Trip  to new mexico years ago)

Also remember Rammed earth construction.  It has nothing to
keep it together except the inital force used to squeeze it
together.  It has to have a protective coating of something or
else it is just mud.

Adobe or rammed earth are very cheap forms of construction
for materials.  They are VERY labor intensive however.  And while
apparently easy to maintain, they must be maintened or they
will just go away.

It might be feasable (why not) to go ahead and make an adobe
(or rammed earth) raised bed and then fasten lath wire to it and
give it a quick coat of stucco (concrete).  My  current house is
made stucco over wood and while it took me awhile to get the
knack of putting it on it is very durable.  (house is 80-90
years old)  The stucco should give you the water proofnees you
need for many years.  The Adobe or rammed earth would give
you the shape.  (How do I know about stucco, been fixing the house,
when a basement wall bowed it cracked the stucco big time,
anywhere the walls have not moved it is the original stucco,
the one wall that did move (I moved it back) had to replace all
the stucco, that stuff is heavy...)

If you were going to be staying someplace long enough this might
be a great option for rasied beds.
- Ron Souliere


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