These are photos leading up to building our new cob oven that will bake all the bread for Heather’s Hearth! First step was a foundation-dug by a backhoe this year instead of by hand. The ground was too wet and the foundation too big, about 10x10x3 ft!
Next we had to fill the foundation. This was the most taxing part of the process. We were taking apart a cement deck at the same time, so needless to say we filled the back of our truck with rocks/cement many many times to fill this! I don’t know how many rocks I lifted, but it was more than I ever want to lift again.
This is the foundation completely filled with the first field stones laid to begin the upper foundation.
This is our “stone boat”! Last fall we had a crew collect rocks from the fence lines at the farm. They were sitting in a pile a ways away from the oven. Two of us slid all the big stones across the lawn and up onto the foundation as we built it to save from picking them all up!
The top of the foundation being evened out with gravel. The centre is filled up with smaller rocks and stones to that point.
Arranging beer bottles to build the bottom insulating layer!
The beer bottles are encased in clay mixed with sawdust. This layer keeps the heat from the fire from getting lost in all of the stones of the foundation.
Finishing up the insulation layer. I think there were at least 200 bottles standing up! More posts to come with the next steps!