[Cob] using hay instead of straw

[Georgie Donais]

Kristen,

I think that generally, straw refers to the cellulose stalks of a grain
plant, whereas hay can mean the leaves, stalks and seedheads of a green
manure crop such as alfalfa, clover, bromegrass and the like.

Straw:
- No real food value
- Long, skinny fibres are convenient to work with
- Good tensile strength

Hay
- Lots of good eating there. As they say, hay is for horses.
- Prone to sprouting and rotting
- Probably a bit more difficult to work with, with all the plant parts
present
- Possibly less tensile strength as it's not strictly stalks

When people say to avoid building with topsoil, I think it's a similar
argument. Topsoil built up over eons is far too valuable to be used as a
building material. Better to remove it for gardens and use the
free-of-organic-matter subsoil for building.

That said, why not experiment? I would just avoid the wild rose stalks; not
so comfortable for barefoot cobbers :)

Georgie

On Mon, Jul 20, 2009 at 10:26 AM, Kristen Davenport
<kristen at boxcarfarm.com>wrote:

> HI there
> Most of the cob books and experts have said we should not use hay for
> building with cob, rather than straw, but I'm completely at a loss about
> WHY. I've received all kinds of different answers.... "It will sprout" (so
> what)... "It's not as strong" (huh??)
>
> To me, none of this makes any sense.
>
> For instance, in the Becky Bee book she says "Do not use hay. It
> decomposes." Yet a few sentences later she states, "If you're an ambitious
> purist,  you can gather your own grass stalks or experiment with other plant
> fibers." Well, HELLO, what do you think hay is? Grass stalks. Not to
> mention, as an avid composter, I can tell you that "straw" decomposes just
> the same as "hay"... and "hay" can mean anything from brittle stalks with
> seed heads to thick straps of wide grass to bales of weeds and wild rose
> stalks and willow branches..
>
> Can anyone give me a reason that makes sense to me why we shouldn't just
> use my neighbor's weedy hay for building with cob?
>
> Thanks.
>
> Kristen
>

-- 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://mudandmusings.blogspot.com/