It all started with a pipe burst on Wyoming Street in February of this year. The property owner (us) had to cover repairs, putting quite the unexpected dent in our budget. Repairs also called for the removal of mature trees from the MUD Site, leaving the street entrance to the site bare.
Now, some organizations may have accepted the misfortune, been relieved that the immediate issue was resolved, and kept moving as usual. We aren’t most organizations, though. We’re MUD. We view challenges as opportunities, as learning experiences. That’s exactly how we treated this scenario. Haley got to work on grant writing, requesting support to bring life back to the front of our site – the way it should be. Thankfully, we received financial support from both the United Way and Treacy Foundation to help lessen the blow from the initial emergency repairs, and then set our sights in revitalizing that space. In the proposal to the Treacy Foundation, the workshop’s sponsor, Haley wrote, “This project not only addresses an urgent infrastructure need but also transforms the restoration process into an opportunity for community education, skill-building, and environmental improvement.” And wouldn’t you know it? We got a grant supporting an educational workshop that would build something on the front of our site. Thus, the MUD Cob Wall was born.
“an opportunity for community education, skill-building, and environmental improvement.”
The cob wall took months of planning between our Workshops and Events Manager, Kathleen, and Daniel and Katherine, who run Spiritwood Natural Builders. Preliminary designs were made, revisions came after that. Until eventually, we had plans and a date set in stone, well… mud.
As with all large projects, many hands (feet?) make light work, and we’re so grateful to the community that’s come together to make this possible. On Wednesday, September 23rd, Little Dumps dropped off the topsoil, clay, sand, and pea gravel for the workshop. On Thursday, the 24th, we hosted a community trench digging party, breaking ground before the much anticipated Cob Wall Workshop.
On Saturday, the real work began. Workshop participants mixed together dirt, clay, sand, and water, making a muddy concoction, called cob. Straw was added to the mixture, giving the material an extra level of structural integrity, like rebar in cement. All mixing was done by feet, in an interpretive dance-esque manner. By the end of day one, participants had laid the base of the wall, all by hand. The wall, then only a few feet all, was a far cry from the final plan, but that was a task for day two, when participants absolutely knocked it out of the park. Windows were added with growler jugs and a plastic bucket, and even more height was added.
Monday, the final day, consisted of adding the last of the cob to the wall, strengthening the windows and giving it greater overall stature. Once the wall reached desired height, participants went to work coating the wall in a clay coating, that was made up of the same materials as the wall, just with different ratios, helping the wall to harden and set, preventing cracks. Some of our artistically inclined participants sculpted mud on the wall, creating scenes that are absolutely beautiful.
Once the feature has completely dried, we’ll apply a final coat of lime glaze. We also have plans to add a roof and a native pollinator garden to complete the restoration project. For now, we are just admiring this amazing wall on our property, that would have never happened if a pipe didn’t burst.
Some say, “turn lemons into lemonade,” we all at MUD say, “turn burst pipes into cob walls”.
A huge thank you to everyone who brought this project to life: United Way, Treacy Foundation, Spiritwood Natural Builders, Little Dumps of Missoula, and all the volunteers and participants. This was our MUD-diest project yet, thanks for being a part of it!
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