The Garden Olla Project, Part 1

Let me explain.  I am a potter with a garden.  And presently I live in a region with a unique history of earthenware pottery.  It is a mixture of the Pre-Colombian tradtion and the old Mediterranean tradition, coming together to create various forms, from Native American to Mexican to the American ranch pottery.  So it has been irresistable to temporarily leave off working in my much-loved stoneware to develop my own earthenware clay and play around with the forms and uses it inspires.  A light-hearted look at classical Greek pottery, for instance...

But at last I had to try out a very traditional idea for the garden.  Across the Mediterranean lands and into the American Southwest, the basic, unglazed, earthenware pot - the same sort used for cooking casseroles in southern France, for instance - finds an additional use in the garden.  As a slow-release water reservoir.

This is due to a unique feature of these low-fired clays.  They are slightly porous.  (This is, after all, the same clay used for flower pots.  This is why clay flowerpots "breathe".)  Pour water into an earthenware pot and it will quickly soak into the fabric of the clay, turning it to a darker red.  Wait a while longer, perhaps half a day, and you will find a little pool of water beneath the pot.  Often this not desirable, which is one reason why glazes are applied on earthenware.  Glaze, with its fully melted glass-surface, renders the pot non-porous.

However, time out of mind, there have been uses for which the porosity was indispensable.  A water-filled jug is kept cool by surface evaporation.  Objects immersed inside remain cool, even in high temperatures, and especially in a dry climate.  Drinking water is kept cool.  And in the garden, the seepage itself can be used to slowly release water to the roots of thirsty plants.  There is minimal water loss as the pot is buried in the soil itself, allowing all the water to flow into the plants' root zones.

Many traditional ollas (as these pots are known in Italian and Spanish) are large, containing 2 gallons or more of water.  Mine... well, they are not very big.  Just some small jars to test the idea and hopefully extend the necessary time between waterings as summer warms up.

The idea is to dig them into the ground near the plant's roots, covering all but the mouth, then fill them with water.  Simple, I think!

I am finished with part one of the task: making the pots.  Handthrown on the potter's wheel, then dried...

...then placed inside the kiln...

Then fired to around 1045 degrees C (about 1915 F).  Ready to... plant.

So far, so good.  Part two will see them in the ground!