I read about olla waterers for gardens .... basically big clay pots that are buried where you want constant watering. Like a drip irrigation system. Only you need to keep filling up the clay pots.
Question 1: Is it possible to use the small (empty/clean) plastic gatorade bottles for this? Or maybe even 2-liter plastic soda bottles? Hubby drinks lots of the individual gatorade but not as much 2-liter sodas, and we don't buy gallon milk very often.
Question 2: In a 4x8 foot bed, how many bottles (assume 2-liter) would we need to "plant" in the center of the bed. Three?
Question 3: Would we need to replace them each year since plastic does (eventually) degrade?
Question 4: How big would we make the drip holes ... a pin prick? Maybe on all 4 sides?
Question 5: Shouldn't I keep the top screwed on so bugs can't get in, drown and clog up the drip holes?
Remember... I'm cheap! I don't want to spend $25 for a clay pot waterer!
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We still don't have the baby chicks. Supposedly today. We'll see. If they don't come in to the feed store, I might cancel if I can find them from somewhere else.
Yesterday (or was it the day before?), Hubby and I decided to hold off on getting more quail and a boyfriend for our angora bunny. We need to work with the chickens and goats and garden and so forth. We're still getting about 5 eggs a week from our pair of quail but still...
My hands still hurt. Started taking water pills yesterday just in case it's due to water retention but doesn't seem to help yet. Need to remember to pick up some arthritis med (OTC) before I get the chicks.
Finally finished my chocolate birthday cake and sent the plate with Hubby today to give back to his mom when he goes over this afternoon after work. I haven't done anything at all with my diet for months but I'm feeling worse so I'm gonna start back on it.
We're eating some greens from our indoor garden and they are very yummy! Sure wish the weather would cooperate so I can get the outdoor garden planted! Yesterday, before the snow, I broadcast some "green manure" over the area where we're gonna build the goat and chicken pens... hoping they will find their way to sprout from the snow-moisture and start growing for when the goats and chickens move to their new homes.
Need to remember to contact our new "handyman" ... he lives in this area. Need him to get started on building the chicken and goat pens in our dog run/backyard. Hope to move both goats and all chickens to those pens by Memorial Day. Need him to rototill the 3 areas where I'm planting (1) corn, beans, pumpkins/squash (3-sisters), (2) sunflowers, cucumbers, watermelon, and (3) amaranth. That's in the back. There's also a spot in the front that he needs to rototill for another 3-sisters patch.
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Please plant a nut or fruit tree today.
1 comment:
Answer 1: Maybe, but the whole point of an olla is that it is clay and the plants feeder roots will caress the sides of it and get slow, steady moisture. It will evenly seep out. I fear that plastic bottles will run out of water much quicker, or clog and become useless. (But I am wrong more often than I care to admit- Sounds like a good experiment)
Answer 2: From what I have seen of ollas- there is usually one per 4 sqare feet, so I would say you should have 8
Answer 3: They will be buried to the mouth in the garden, so they won't degrade quickly
Answer 4: Pin pricks all over the place, and bury it to water the four square foot section.
Answer 5: If you keep the top on, the water will have a hard time getting out due to the partial vacuum created. I would go with a loose cap, one with some pinhole in it, or just a flat rock on the top.
Hope it works- keep us posted! :D
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