Dung

It's so good for so many things! My clay floor is now at the stage when I need to do some research about it's final coat, which I've declared will be of cow manure. Searching for the ideal recipe for a dung floor had me trip over this article about a Himatangi man who's building bricks from cow manure. It's no more than a distraction perhaps, and relatively old news, but here is the link to the story, in case your interest is piqued. Julian Retikaukau's been thinking!



"Dung bricks were far from new – people in Africa and the Middle East used to use dung when they made bricks – but he said he was sick of seeing New Zealand rivers polluted with cow dung.

"I want to help minimise the impact of agriculture to the land. We want to be sustainable and productive – and those two things usually don't go together – but if you think about it, it can happen."

While more tests – including weather-proof and porous tests – had to be done, he was confident the bricks would be a successful product."