Field Guide · Earth + Water
Ollas, rain barrels, and gravity-fed water — straight answers for sandy ground.
Straight answers about holding water on sandy ground — ollas, rain barrels, and the gravity-fed pairing that does the quietest job on the land.
An unglazed clay pot buried to its neck, filled with water and capped. The surrounding soil pulls water through the porous wall only as it dries — the pot self-regulates, with no timer, valve, or electricity.
Especially well. The capillary pull is driven by dry soil, and sandy soil dries fast — so the pot works hardest exactly when the bed needs it most.
Every three to seven days in summer, less as the season cools. Fill to the brim, cap it, and refill when the level drops.
No. Raise the barrel on blocks and let gravity deliver — the lower the spigot, the more of the barrel empties. Screen the top, aim the downspout in, and it fills itself.
About fifty dollars — barrel, blocks, spigot, screen, and a length of downspout. One afternoon to build, gravity to run it.
Pair a rain barrel with one olla in the bed that dries fastest. The barrel fills the pot; the pot meters the soil. Gravity meets capillary action — that is the whole system.
Deeper method: read the olla guide or the rain barrel field notes, or take the bundle — Water-Wise Garden Bundle ($17).