Earthoven built from the ground up...leads to tasty bread!
This earthoven, built in our backyard by my kids, has been many years in my brain. I think I first read about such a project 5-7 years ago and I didn't get started until the end of the summer. All the kids were available to help and loved the idea from the moment I mentioned it. Now they don't normally react this way when I have an idea like "time to mow the lawn" , or "hey, who wants to clean the house?" But I somehow managed to find a sweet spot with this project and their enthusiasm was a wonder to behold. My son and his friends first built the base from concrete block, sand and gravel. They picked a flat spot in the yard and did a great job of setting the foundation. After a trip to the brickyard, I added a layer of firebrick for the ovens floor. My daughters then pitched in by mashing sand and clay together to form the dome over a mound of sand.
Earthoven and other projects at Amazon books
Two layers of clay were applied to make the dome and after smoothing, a weeks' drying time followed. Actually, we cut out the door on day 2 of drying and scooped out the sand inside. Two more weeks of drying before we fired it up and you can see the results for yourself - Cranberry sourdough bread!
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