Thursday, February 12, 2015

PCR: Another form of self-watering garden - cheap and easy!!!

While searching out the method for building the self-wicking raised-bed planter, I ran across another interesting form of subterranean (big word points on that one!) watering setup. This one is simple, cool, and ancient. And it's cheap and easy to build. And it's been used for centuries. And it's easy to install. It's the olla - pronounced oy-uh.

These beauties are from the Growing Awareness Urban Farm (link below)

Yes - you can buy fancy, artsy, beautiful, ready-made ollas; but here at the Mesquite Hugger alternative growing lab, we believe in things like cheap, like DIY, like quick, like cheap, and ugly does not bother us if it's cheap and effective. Besides, these things are designed to be buried.

Check out the Closer to the Dirt link below to learn more about making and using your own ollas.

Closer to the Dirt: Experimenting with Ollas

For those of you who are not cheap and do have an eye for the aesthetic, check out this site from Albuquerque. They have some beautiful ollas with very reasonable prices (especially if you are local and do not have to pay shipping). The site is very informative and inspiring. I urge you to spend some time poking around there to see people who are working hard to make a difference in their community.

Growing Awareness Urban Farm

May we not ignore the past when learning how to thrive in the future.

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