Ollas

For Christmas we received our very own Diana Kersey Olla! It is absolutely the best. I can hardly stand to bury it in the dirt.

Ollas are ceramic pots that are only glazed on the top. You "plant" them in your garden. Then you can fill them with water or they fill themselves when it rains. The unglazed pot then allows the water to seep out slowly when the ground gets dry. This gives your plants a slow, steady flow of water which is incredibly important in drought prone South Texas.

Our neighborhood garden is overseen by Diana Kersey and she and another local potter generously hand threw ollas for all the community garden beds. After a few seasons of growing herbs and veggies in our plot, I have first hand experience with how well the ollas work. We don't get down to the garden quite as often as we need to- but these ollas help out a forgetful waterer. The plants closest to the ollas grow bigger and the roots wrap right around the pot. I found this online how to from another Texas garden blog if you want to try to make simple ollas or I encourage you to check out Diana's new studio in the Atlee Ayers Building at 112 Broadway if you want a work of art with your water conservation.