Friday, May 22, 2009

What's An Olla?


What's an olla? Pronounced oh-ya. It's a large unglazed earthenware pot or jar typically with a bulbous body and narrow neck. Olla were traditionally used to carry, store, and cool water by evaporation. The olla would sweat and thus cool the interior water. (I really want to try this to see how cold the water will get). Many times an olla was made with an indented bottom making it easier to carry the olla on the head.


Ollas were also used in the Southwestern United States to irrigate plants, an ancient drip system if you will. The practice of using an olla to water plants was brought by Spanish settlers and was later adapted by Native Americans. For example the Kwaaymii in the Laguna Mountains east of San Diego made olla from clay they dug (scroll down linked page for a description).


The olla is buried beside a plant or group of plants, leaving part of the neck above ground. The olla is then filled with water. The water slowly seeps out through the pores of the olla and waters the plant. Keeping the water underground is more efficient since there is less evaporation. The plant roots slowly wrap around the olla absorbing the moisture before it can seep into adjacent soil beyond the plant's reach. Ollas can be used in the ground, in raised beds, or even for potted plants (a pot within a pot). Ollas are an excellent way to conserve water especially in water restricted areas.


Ollas are best used for herbaceous plants, grasses, vegetables and perennials. Some wood plant roots may break the olla as the woody roots enlarge over time. Different sized ollas are used for different plants or groups of plants. Small plants or shallow rooted plants need a smaller olla and plants with deeper roots or which need more water need a larger olla. After the olla is buried and filled with water a rock, cap, or cork can be placed over the top to prevent insects and dirt from falling in the pot. A drip system can also be set up to fill the olla automatically.

The flowers are Pandorea jasminoides, or Bower vine, evergreen vines blooming in my garden right now. One has a pale yellow center and the other a ruby center. They bloom sporadically all season long but need a moist, well draining soil and a nearly frost-free climate. The flower is named after Pandora, the first woman, giver of all, of Greek mythology who released all the evils of mankind. Apparently the Greek pithos, large storage jar, was translated to Latin pyxis, box. So Pandora should have released the evils by opening a large storage jar, (perhaps an olla).

Have a relaxing Memorial Day (Decoration Day) weekend. I give these flowers, in rememberance, as if strewn across the graves of those who have fallen, that our nation might be free.

22 comments:

  1. This is such a brilliant post and idea, I am going to make an Olla right now and burry it in my raised flower bed. I am fed up with the plaster I am trying to work with today.

    I did once make a butter dish with a double wall that could hold water for the cooling properties, it worked pretty well.

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  2. Again you share your knowledge- I learn something from every post you do- thanks!

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  3. Hi Kitty, are you making plaster molds for clay? Thanks, I am assuming a very porous earthenware clay should be used and it shouldn't be vitrified? I bought some of these ollas a long time ago from a mission in New Mexico which set up a business to help folks make a living through making ollas. I have heard of those French butter dishes and never could figure out how they kept the butter cold - I guess it is the same principle as these ollas. Wonder if any of the folks there in Spain would know about these?

    Hi Meredith, thanks, I don't know why I never thought of posting about this before. I was cleaning up my photo files and found the photo and thought - gee - those are pottery, duh, wonder if anyone knows about them. I think making these might be a good way for potters to increase their income - every little bit helps.

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  4. thanks for all that, and finally our flowers are catching up to you!

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  5. Yes, not vitrified for the Olla! I will fire mine to 1110 celcius and it will still be porus.
    Another vessel I was reminded of by the olla is a medieval English watering pot. Used by and designed by monks. It is a bell shaped pot with a wide flat bottom (think salt pig) that is thrown on the wheel, collar in at the top and bring together to form a knob and a hollow sealed pot. Cut off the wheel and leave to rest for a day. When it can be handled pierce the underside flat bottom with a fine hole maker so it resembles a fine colander and then fettle. Pierce the top (through the knob) with another hole slightly bigger but one that you can cover with your thumb completely. Dry (it can be glazed or not) and fire.

    To use, immerse entirely into your water butt so it fills up, remove with your thumb over the top hole, water your plants by releasing your thumb holding the pot like a syringe. I hope this makes sense? The ones I have seen are not very big about the size of a tea pot.

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  6. Hi Gary, so glad the weather is warming up for you, hope to see some of your flowers.

    Hi Kitty, potters are so ingenious; I guess they have to be. Those English watering pots would be good for watering seedlings. I guess before hoses folks had to do something.

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  7. Put "Tudor Carpet Watering Pot" into Google and you will find a picture of the watering pot.

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  8. Hi Kitty, thanks for the link, that really is an ingenious pot; it said the water was also sprinkled on reed carpet to keep them soft. It seems I have opened a Pandora's box of sorts in the discussion of ancient pottery uses. When I put in Tudor Carpet Watering Pot I also found a pounce pot which was filled with pumice to dry the ink after writing. Which got me to thinking of the various other types of pottery which were made that are no longer used due to modern inventions. I wonder if there is a pottery book about such things, if not there should be.

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  9. Very cool - I had never seen or heard of this type of pottery before! Your flowers are lovely as always...

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  10. Hi Cynthia, I was amazed the first time I saw them too, thanks the vines are finally getting bigger and making a nice statement when they are in bloom. White really looks nice in the garden; it's kind of like using black in decorating, it seems to ground things, catches the eye, and enhances other colors. I should have posted what it looked like growing up the post - another time.

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  11. An earthenware drip system - very cool! Wonderful shapes too - I wouldn't want to bury them underground. It would be fun to design some that look good half buried in raised beds with an underground and aboveground part. They would do (most) of their job and you could enjoy how they look. Maybe glaze the top part so water wouldn't be lost there. Lots of good information. Looking forward to what you are going to do.

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  12. Hi Barbara, I think I read somewhere in one of the links or another article where someone did just that, they only buried half of the pot and used them as a southwestern style garden ornament - glazing the upper part would be cool too - they are actually too nice looking to bury, but I guess in ancient days or even nowadays, some pots were/are definitely utilitarian and the ones buried wouldn't have been decorated.

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  13. in spanish, it's the word for 'cooking pot.' :)

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  14. Hi Amy, thanks, that's interesting, I guess if someone were to cook food in a earthenware pot it would have to have some water in it so the food wouldn't stick to the bottom, especially over an open flame. I read one article somewhere that beans were also cooked in the pots, perhaps they needed to cook them for a long time if they were dried beans.

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  15. Linda, Thank you for teaching us about this olla. I also just knew an olla to be a cooking pot. I love your flowers!

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  16. Hi Dora, thanks. I think ollas could be useful for those on water rationing. I really like these vines are really filling in nicely now and they are evergreen so nice in winter too.

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  17. I just reread this post. How interesting! How in the world do you know all that you know? Fascinating.... this has me thinking about future flowerbeds and such.

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  18. Hi Amy, thanks, dare I say with age comes wisdom or just having a memory for what I have read and having a curiosity for things. I remember years ago in college I took an art appreciation class and we studied about the Greeks and Romans, it vaguely comes back to me now. Of course the internet can help to refresh my memory. I just learned myself about the pots sweating and keeping water cool and that is intriguing to me. I want to try it to see how cool the water gets.

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  19. Hi Linda,
    Thank you for expanding my knowledge in the use of "ollas". I grew up in Tijuana, and my memory of them were, coming home from school and my Mom having just finished cooking beans, the smell would spread all over the house, I new the minute I came in what was part of lunch. Freshly cooked "frijoles de la olla"
    chopped tomato, cilantro, oion, serrano chile, and grated cheese, yummo! and rolled tortillas were just exquisite. Beans probably take about 2-3 hours to cook.
    Here is a link to what an olla to cook beans look like, they are glazed unlike the ones for watering. http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/pDetail.asp?i=3&p=340&s=1&price=16.95
    Thank you for taking me down memory lane. I may try making some watering ollas, maybe this was my plants will live longer.....

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  20. Hi Yolanda, those beans sound so wonderful, I am hungry just thinking of them. I just love the peppers and cilantro. Oh boy there is nothing better than homemade. I too love the rolled tortillas with rice and beans. Thanks for the link - I guess the word olla just means pot? You've reminded me my mom used to make navy beans with a ham bone that she baked for hours in the oven but in a pyrex bowl and those were so good. I see the pot you linked to could be put on top of the stove with a heat diffuser - very interesting. I hope your olla keeps your plants alive.

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  21. I hope you can come back to this post and answer a question about your ollas. I've been hand-building ollas from a coarse sculpture clay, with walls 1/2" thick. I thought I would need a heavily-grogged clay to keep the olla porous. I'm planning to bisque fire at cone 04, glaze the neck, then re-fire at 05 or 06. Other ollas I see on the internet look like terra cotta. I'm now wondering if I could throw them instead, thinner, and using a finer clay. Any advice about clay body and firing temperatures for appropriately porous garden ollas?

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  22. I fishgirl, I purchased my ollas from a native american factory in New Mexico and they were made from a very thin unglazed terra cotta clay. I spoke with the factory and they had made a mold of the original olla and were mass producing them to provide employment for the native americans in that area. I will look around for the supplier to see if I can find them. I have just moved to the East Coast so all my stuff is in storage but I kept the ollas at my previous location in the ground and they really did work miraculously.

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