Do you Hypertufa???

May 10, 2013

Do you Hypertufa???

Spring Break in the Big Woods led to a new hobby for my sisters and me.

We learned how to make our own hypertufa pots.

We have admired and have been wanting to make these pots forever.

Needless to say, we were not disappointed with the fun we had in making them, or the results of the final pots.

You must start with a bag of sphagnum peat moss.

And, you will need a bag of sand (not play sand).

The last ingredient is a bag of portland cement.

The type of cement is very important...it must be portland.

We used this red dishpan for measuring all of the ingredients. You simply mix 1 part sand, 1 part cement, 2 part peat moss, and enough water to get the consistency of mud pies...too much water is a problem...too dry will cause crumbling.

It is best to mix the dry ingredients completely in a wheelbarrow with a hoe...and then add the water and mix.

Containers for shaping the pots need to be prepared ahead. We had great fun choosing different shapes and sizes of containers. We tore pieces of a garbage bag to line most of our containers.

The mixture is then placed inside the container with lots of patting and smushing to get the pot formed just right. We tried to make ours about 1 inch thick.

Here is another view of a pot being shaped.

We also used a stick to make a hole in the bottom of each pot for drainage.

Once you are finished shaping, the pots are set in the sun to dry for 3-4 days.

You can see here the variety of containers we used for shaping the pots. We even tried using a couple of baskets. The mixture takes on the texture of the pot and also the texture of the garbage bag.

The best part was unveiling each hypertufa pot from its container after they had completely dried. It was great fun to see all the shapes and the textures.