Ollas have been used for thousands of years in agriculture and gardening practices and are traditionally unglazed terracotta “jugs” filled with water and buried into the soil, with their necks protruding slightly. Once the porous terracotta olla is in contact with the soil, water begins to seep into the surrounding soil, directly to the rootzone of surrounding plants. The amount of water drawn from the olla varies depending on the soil moisture – dry soil will draw water faster; wet soil slows it down. This is great in our dry, hot climate – there’s no water wastage through run-off and evaporation, the water goes exactly where it’s needed, and the risk of fungal issues on foliage is significantly reduced due to the foliage not being wet during a watering. The burying of the olla in the soil also promotes deeper roots systems that are better able to manage fluctuations in heat. Perfect! Ollas are brilliant in pots, garden beds and even adjacent to plantings of young trees, but they do have their downsides – traditional olla’s are hard to come by, don’t last forever and are prohibitively expensive. Luckily, there’s an easy way to make them yourself for next to nothing.