Workshop Details

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Want to build an amazing low-cost oven in your backyard from natural and on-site materials? Join us for a two-day cob oven workshop at Hundred Fruit Farm this spring!

 

Cob is a mixture of clay, sand, and fiber (usually straw) and has been used as a building material for thousands of years. In many climates, cob can work great as a building material for houses, but it doesn't possess great insulative properties, so in our colder climate, cob is mostly used for building internal walls of houses or external walls for uninsulated buildings like sheds of outhouses. But cob is also an excellent choice for earthen ovens! Cob ovens can be made almost entire from on-site materials and they function extremely well! Cob has a lot of thermal mass, which means it will retain a lot of heat once the oven is fired up, and provides a nice, even heat for baking breads, pizzas, and pretty much whatever you want! Check out the example images below to see what these ovens look like when they are all finished!

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Over the course of two days, you will learn everything you need to know about how to build one of these ovens in your own backyard from scratch! 

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Workshop Format

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The workshop will be held over the course of two days, 1-2 weeks apart. This will give time for the first cob layer(s) to dry before the second day of the workshop. The schedule will go something like this:

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Day 1: 

• Explaining foundation design putting the finishing touches on the stone foundation

• Building the sand form that will become the interior space of the oven

• Testing soil for cob building

• Mixing cob and building the first cob layer around the oven

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Day 2 (1-2 weeks after day 1):

• Pulling out the sand form

• Insulating the oven using natural and/or recycled materials

• Mixing earthen finishing plasters and applying them to the oven

• Firing up the oven and cooking in it!

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Workshop Cost

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The cost for the workshop is $200 per person. This includes a farm fresh lunch for both days as well as coffee, tea, and snacks for breaks. If you prefer to bring your own lunch because you have special dietary restrictions, please let us know and we can deduct a small amount from the cost of the workshop.

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Who is this workshop for?

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This workshop is basically for anyone and everyone, though we think children under 12 might have a hard time staying focused and engaged for the whole day. Children who attend must be in the supervision of an adult also attending the workshop. 

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When will the workshop be? I'm dying to know!

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We will let you know as soon as we get it scheduled if you click the button to be notified below! We keep pushing it back, but at this point we are planning on doing it as soon as the weather is warm in 2024 enough to work with mud. Stay tuned, and sorry to those of you who have been waiting and waiting for this workshop to happen - we promise we haven't forgotten about it!