Permaculture in New Zealand

Adobe insitu Instructions. Make your own paths, bricks, home, by Aleena La'ulu

ADOBE INSITU
Finally….What you have all been waiting for…..The instructions on ‘do it ya self, true kiwi style, Adobe Insitu’. For those of you who don’t know what the stuff is, it is basically a mud mix that can be useful in many different ways ‘every kid, gardener, landscaper, builder and artist’s dream’. I won’t bother rambling on about historical stuff, just know that life tends to be one great big experiment and if you don’t trial and practice then you will never know just how much fun the stuff is. Please note: if you are looking at building a house you will need to read the Earth Building Code available from EBANZ.

On the front and back pages of this booklet are photos of Adobe Insitu projects. The homes you see here are from the Earth Song Eco Village located in Auckland. The photo below is of an Adobe Insitu work shop held at the Eco Show in Auckland in February of 2004. This photo is of a demonstration garden with boulder sculpture being created by a local artist. The front page photo is of garden edging for a Permaculture garden at Trash Palace Resource Recovery Centre in Porirua. Adobe Insitu is cheap to use and very enjoyable to work with. Shape koru’s, patterns, use mosaic tiling while the mix is still fresh and wet’ish or simply keep it plain, but most of all have fun.

TOOLS
Wheel barrow Water source and hose
Shovels Bucket
Trowel Measuring containers
Concrete mixer preferable
Moulds for bricks (sizes dependent on what you are making)
Good strong waterproof gloves

INGREDIENTS
Paper Pulp
A rough estimate is one bucket of slightly packed shredded paper to one to two buckets of water. For less mixing time soak the shredded paper overnight. Place the mixture into concrete mixer and mix for up to ½ an hour or until nice and pulpy looking.

Clay Mix
When asking for clay from your local quarry, ask for overburden with a small clay content. This stuff generally looks just like dirt and stones which most New Zealanders are use to seeing every day (If you are like me you will need to get over your disbelief that something beautiful could actually be made out of this stuff, it does work and practice will definitely lead to improvement in your workmanship). If the overburden you receive is high in clay content you may like to add a little sand.

Recipe for Adobe Insitu
10 parts clay ½ part paper pulp
1 part cement 1 small bucket of water
If you are teaching or demonstrating, you can use 2 parts cement to help the mix set faster.
Turn on the cement mixer. Pour in paper pulp then water, add the cement and then the clay. For best results always add the ingredients in this order and do not try to mix too fast. Give the mixture a good amount of time to mix thoroughly. It should be quite mushy and mouldable, a similar consistencey to what concrete looks like when mixed.

Important Notes
If you are a bit ignorant at times, like myself, please note: Cement is not concrete, make sure you get the right stuff or you could be wasting all your time and hard work like I did the first time I tried making garden edging.
If the area you are working on is topsoil, it is best to remove this by digging down as far as you possibly can to a firmer base. Line the base with clay and rock – almost 50/50 with some rocks quite large. This will ensure whatever you are making has a good chance of having a long and healthy life.

Working with mud adobe in the rain just don’t work no matter how quickly you need to finish the design (trust me, I know these things).

MAKING STUFF

House Bricks
Specially made aluminium moulds are best for fast easy results. The standard size requirement is 300ml x 300ml.

Garden Edging Bricks
Specially made aluminium moulds are best for fast easy results. You can use Tupperware containers but this is not as easy. A good brick size is 180 wide x 100 deep x 300 length.
(For a rounded effect in the brick use the trowel kind of like a digging effect into the centre of the brick and push out.)

Boulders
When making boulders your Adobe Insitu mix needs to be drier than what you would use for brick making. Into whatever size bag you want, firmly pack plastic bottles and bags. Tie up the bag. Dig a U shaped hole into the ground and line with a good base of Adobe Insitu mix. Place the filled bag into the hole and start to build up the Adobe Insitu mix around the bag approximately 2 to 3 inches thick. Try not to rush this process.

Floors
For an insulated floor – lay bottles side by side tightly and pack with sand. Lay down black plastic over top and pour approximately a 3 inch layer of Adobe Insitu mix.

Pathways
If you are covering over an existing concrete pathway your clay mix needs to be at least
2 ½ inches thick. Do not use large stones in a pathway.

Clay Plaster for Interior Walls
2 parts paper pulp to 1 part clay (sieved and smooth). This stuff can be painted over.

Clay Plaster for Exterior Walls
10 ltrs of plaster mix ( 2 parts paper pulp to 1 part clay) to 1 spaghetti tin size of cement.

Adobe Insitu
Written by Aleena La’ulu

Entered by Aleena La'ulu