Ollas are unglazed clay jars with wide bodies and thin necks.
They help conserve water in the garden. I learned about them from the Dervaes family here in Pasadena. They sell them in their online store.
You bury the ollas in dirt up to their necks.
Then you fill them up with water. The water slowly seeps out directly into the soil.
I found a rock that exactly fits the top of this olla to help keep mosquitoes and curious wasps out.
I’m just starting out with ollas, but for more information about their history and use, check out these resources from the Dervaes family:
- Little Homestead in the City: Using Ollas - An article about ollas and a series of photos showing ollas going into the ground and in use.
- Little Homestead in the City: Ollas - Olla instructions and F.A.Q.s.
- YouTube: Path to Freedom - Water Wise gardening - A video showing how to install and plant around an olla.
- Peddler’s Wagon: Olla - Ollas for sale in the Dervaes family’s online store.
ah now I know what those earlier pictures were about. I just couldn’t figure it out.
The gentleman that moved in across the street from us works (actually heads up) the local water company and seems to be quite a kindred spirit when it comes to conservation and loving trees/plants. He suggested we put some cheap vegetable oil to form a film on top of the rain barrel to keep mosquitos from breeding. Zowie it works great and no harm to the plants when we use the rain water to water (we got an old recycled oak wine barrel from Home Depot that works great and even has a hose bib at the base). Also he has a five gallon bucket that he has punched holes in the bottom of that he fills with water and then lets the water slowly drain through the holes to water his trees. Works great! and in drought stricken Georgia we need every idea we can come up with to keep things alive without wasting water.
I forgot to mention that I love the Ollas but where both my neighbor and I are the ground is ssssoooo rocky that just to plant the new little trees that he brought with him, he had to dig out so many rocks he said he could open a quarry. One of the reasons some of our plants are having such a hard time is because we are on a rock hill with just a little soil. Suffice it to say, I love the ollas, but don’t think I could penetrate the rock to bury them. Bought some 5 gallon buckets today at Lowes and am going to drill some 1/4 ” holes in them to see if it does the trick if I set them full of water twice a week next to my very very thirsty plants for the water to seep out slowly. We can now use our sprinklers once a week so maybe everything won’t die this year.
I lived in East L.A. for a number of years and a watering technique I often saw employed by local folk, was to take a plastic milk container, fill it with water and punch a small whole in the bottom. You set them up in the plant’s water well.
My sister used to make ollas and I used to break them. That is why she always chased me around the yard.
Very cool!
I just watched a clip on those jars and said something to Jeff about using one. We are trying to make a decision on a rain barrel too. Haven’t decided on what exactly we are going to do about that one…
I’ve been inspired by the Dervaes family but I’d miss my green yard if I used the entire thing for gardening… not to mention I have a very black thumb… so I think we’ll stick with our blackberries and various veggies for now.
-d
Just wanted to follow up on how your Ollas are working! Seems like a great idea to me.
Dave over at….
http://mtbaldyeagle.blogspot.com/