Cathy Isom fills you in about an easy and quick way to water your garden without spending a ton of money. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours.
If you’ve never tried an Olla irrigation system to water your small garden, you’re in for a treat. It will not only save you time but money too… while properly caring for your garden.
An olla irrigation system is when you bury an object underground which holds water. The object is made of a porous material such as clay, which allows the water to seep through the object. Ollas are unglazed clay pots which fit into the ground around your crops and hold water until needed. It’s a neat idea, inexpensive, and can save many hours of manual labor. Ollas are shaped like large clay bottles and are buried beneath the ground. They have a long neck which feeds into a large rounded body.
The long neck sticks out of the ground as an easy way for you to add water to the pot as needed. Be sure to place a rock or a clay cover over the top of the reservoir to avoid mosquitos from breeding in the water, soil from getting into the water, and also to prevent water from evaporating. The pot is unglazed which allows water to seep through the sides. However, the water doesn’t ooze out of the container at any time. The soil and plants around it will form a suction when they need more water.
If the soil is dry, water will seep from the underground reservoir. The roots of the crops will grow around the pot and be able to access this water as needed.
It eliminates a great deal of waste because the plants and soil only draw what they need, and the water goes directly to them.
However, remember to fill your underground reservoirs (especially) ollas when they reach half empty.
I’m Cathy Isom…
Ollas: Buried Clay Pot Irrigation with up to 90% Water Savings over other Irrigation Methods
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