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Keep Your Raised Garden Bed Sufficiently Watered With An Olla
By WILL FORD
An olla (pronounced “oh-yah”), originating in Africa nearly 4,000 years ago, is a great way to hydrate a raised garden bed and requires far less maintenance than
other methods.
If you bury an olla in your garden, fill it with water, and cover it, it will release water into the bed as needed, eliminating the demand to hand water your garden every morning.
Before you install an olla, plug the drainage hole in the bottom of the pot by gluing a penny over it and letting it dry. Center the pots in the garden bed where you want them.
Use a trowel to dig a hole the size of the pot, and bury the pot in it with the blocked drainage hole at the bottom, leaving a few inches of the neck exposed above the soil.
Tamp down the soil around the olla pot so it fits snugly. Fill the clay pot with water and cover the top with a clay drip tray to prevent soil and insects from falling in the pot.
Although the olla requires little maintenance, check the pot every few days and fill it back to the top once the water level has reached below 50%.