[GSBN] lime/dung plaster - more input

Mon May 9 09:49:26 UTC 2011

Hi all

For more feedback on the issue of using cowdung in lime plasters please all
see Emma’s – friend of Kim Thompson’s furhter comments in 2 emails copy and
pasted below mine.

I can also report that we did an experiment with some cowdung from a cattle
feeding station source where the cows are fed approx 90% gran and 10%
hay
..and can confirm that there was a bit of cracking with the first coat

certainly more than I have had with freerange cattle dung
though otherwise
it seemed good and still performs better than lime plaster wihtout any
dung
.

Luckily it looks like we have managed to source another source of cowdung
where the cows feed freely in pastures.

Cheers

Andy

  _____  

From: Emma FitzGerald [mailto:emma.margaret.fitzgerald at gmail.com] 
Sent: 06 May 2011 11:11 PM
To: Andy Horn
Cc: kim thompson
Subject: Re: lime/dung plaster

Hi Andy,

Sorry for the delay in responding, I have been busy getting ready to leave
the Gambia!

Glad you remember the very brief meeting!

The reference is "Decorated Homes in Botswanna" by Sandy and Elinah Grant,
published in 1995, Bay Publishing, Gabaronne.

They mention fat content in grass as a factor in dung plastering in Chapter
6, Colour and Materials, and quote a 71 year old italian builder who lived
in Gabaronne, who was crucial in their research. His name is Alberto
Travaglini.

If you have trouble finding it I can transcribe the passage to you on my
return to Canada.

I am not part of the GSBN network, your message was past on to me by my
Canadian friend and straw bale builder, Kim Thompson. Feel free to share!

Best wishes, Emma

On Thu, Apr 28, 2011 at 11:51 AM, Andy Horn <andy at ecodesignarchitects.co.za>
wrote:

Hi Emma

Great yes I recall our meeting.

Thanks yes I would indeed be interested in tracking that book down if
possible.

Did you post your input to the GSBN as I am sure it is of interest to the
group too. 

Thanks  

Andy

  _____  

From: Emma FitzGerald [mailto:emma.margaret.fitzgerald at gmail.com] 
Sent: 21 April 2011 01:41 AM
To: kim thompson
Cc: andy at ecodesignarchitects.co.za
Subject: Re: lime/dung plaster

Hello Andy,

We met very briefly in 2007 - I stopped by your office in CT briefly, was
just visiting for a few days. I had been working for Peter Rich, and come
from Canada. I haven't done much work with lime/manure etc. but a book I was
recently reading about manure finishing in  Botswanna said that the grass
was important for its lipid content, which works as a binding agent. In
years when there was drought, and the cows only fed on leaves, the women
knew that the dung would not be of the same quality. I can get you the name
of the book if you are interested.
best, 
Emma

On Wed, Apr 20, 2011 at 7:10 PM, kim thompson <shipharbour at ns.sympatico.ca>
wrote:

Hello Andy

I was very excited to read about your experiments and revival of
lime/clay/manure recipes.

Would very much appreciate receiving the document you mention and getting
looped into further

discussions and research on the topic. I am experimenting in similar veins
here in Nova Scotia.

Thanks! Keep up the great work.

kim

Kim Thompson
Straw Bale Projects
2699 Northwood Terrace

Halifax, Nova Scotia B3K 3S9
tel. 902-453-2429 or 902-845-2750

e mail:  <mailto:shipharbour at ns.sympatico.ca> shipharbour at ns.sympatico.ca

 <http://www.naturalbuilding.ca> www.naturalbuilding.ca

"Tradition and modernity are merely two sides of the same coin - and must be
dealt with simultaneously. Building cannot be a rigid dogma, but a living,
organic, ecological project. It is about continuity, based on memory, common
sense and experience and is the foundation of invention."   Hasan Uddin Khan

Le 19/04/2011 15:12, Andy Horn a écrit :

Hi all

I am busy with 3 large straw bale public building, coating in a thick
dipping of earth plaster and well worked in to the bales, which we are
protecting with 2 top coats of lime, sand, cow dung and clay water plaster
using a recipe I learnt from an old builder Herbert whom was taught it by
his grandfather for the plastering of the adobe buildings of his old
Moravian mission town.

We are having a bit of difficulty getting sufficient supplies of fresh cow
dung near our site in Johannesburg, however we have located a nearby
feedlot, where the stuff is readily available only thing is that I are
wondering if this kind of cow dung would still be suitable 
.as I imagine it
would have less fibre than cow dung sourced from free ranging cattle.
Apparently the cows at the feeding station are fed on about 10% hay/grass
and 90% grain.

What Herbert our old heritage builder tells us is that it should be fine so
long as they are fed some fibre and that indeed he has made use of such cow
dung before and one cannot even tell the difference. For him the more
important thing is that the cow dung is fresh 
i.e. no more than 3 days old.

So anyhow I was wondering if any of you lot out there have any with
experience in using feed-lot cow dung for their plasters and if you have
come up against similar issues in terms of what the cows get to eat
affecting the quality of the cow dung before and if you have any
opinions/experience with this.

Incidentally the plaster mix that we get with this receipt is particularly
good. It is both very strong and extremely durable as well as being
particularly forgiving and really easy to work with as lime plasters
typically go.

So if any of you are interested I could email you a pdf document directly (
please respond to me separately on  <mailto:andy at ecodesignarchitects.co.za>
andy at ecodesignarchitects.co.za 
.do not reply to the whole mailing group)
that I have written up on the process
as I am not sure I can mail it to this
address direct
.unless you want me upload it somewhere. Joyce I would be
more than  happy for you to print it up in a forthcoming “Last Straw”
magazine too.

cheers

Andy

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