It has been a while since our last post, so I thought I'd give an update. This July, a Buxton grad joined me for a week to work in the garden and help me build the toolshed. Rachel and I mixed our first few batches of mortar by hand in a wheelbarrow, then delivered the mix to the site for building.
It was a laborious process, but oddly satisfying when the right mix was obtained. We then began to stack layers of cordwood, surrounded by mortar strips of approximately 2-3 inches in thickness. Selection of cordwood pieces was a bit like working with a giant, heavy puzzle. The mortar was a bit crumbly in texture, which meant that it cured very strong but also was tricky to work into place. We ended up forgoing a careful pointing job; instead using our hands to smooth the inner and outer surfaces of the mortar. The result is a 3-4 foot wall which still stands waiting for further growth.
It was a laborious process, but oddly satisfying when the right mix was obtained. We then began to stack layers of cordwood, surrounded by mortar strips of approximately 2-3 inches in thickness. Selection of cordwood pieces was a bit like working with a giant, heavy puzzle. The mortar was a bit crumbly in texture, which meant that it cured very strong but also was tricky to work into place. We ended up forgoing a careful pointing job; instead using our hands to smooth the inner and outer surfaces of the mortar. The result is a 3-4 foot wall which still stands waiting for further growth.
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