First Coat of Earth Plaster

At some point during this process we worked out individual roles-things we like to do that essentially influenced our efficiency. Apparently, my role as foot mixer evolved from my lack of mud time as a child and my less tender feet than Salty's. So be it. Children have the most fun anyway so might as well join them.

Our first coat of plaster formula was made of 3 parts sand, 2 parts nearly pure clay from underground the streets of Whitefish (a fortunate stroke of luck), 1 bucket native dirt from the earth oven project and 1 gallon straw. This was tinkered with by adding about 1.5 gallons of coffee bean frass during the final stomp for added aroma and binding strength to the mix. I found this more pleasant and realistic than trying cow poop as an additive.

I started with the volcano of sand then slowly added the buckets of clay. Mixed with the feet till homogeneous then added the bucket of earth oven dirt. Resumed jumping. Rolled the plaster around in the tarp. Sprinkled with straw and coffee frass- returned to the rhythm of mixing with feet/rolling the tarp. Continuously repeating for 15 or so minutes until a nice form resulted.

I knew the brownie batter batch was sufficiently worked if it stuck together as above. 3 mixes of this filled the wheel barrow and covered the outside wall (120 square feet). We applied the mix by hand. You basically work a clump in your hand then apply it to a freshly misted wall emphasizing pressure up and with the palm. It went on about 1/2 inch thick. We were building up low points in the wall with a straw/clay/slip filler from any that fell to the ground.

It took about 4 days to dry down and during this interlude we dove into using a new batch of the same mix on the inside. The loose straw at the top proved quite challenging so we stapled burlap to the frame and tucked it under the stuffing before applying the plaster.

The plaster inside dried much quicker with more consistently warm air in the greenhouse. We gave our next round of starts a mist. We have pablo and slo bolt lettuce going again, cilantro, northern lights chard, peppers, calendula, basil and leftovers from summer-turkish eggplants and hungarian peppers which were attempting to raise as mother plants for next season. There's even a baseball size watermelon between the eggplants that I'm curious if it even has sweet fleshy insides yet.