A few people (well, 3) have asked how I structure my days?. . . . I do whatever needs to be done for the Ollas in the mornings, then work on other orders and fun in the afternoons. This morning it was lids. 😊
A note for my potter friends: this is my standing wheel! It has saved my back and I love it. I don't think I would be working as a potter without it.

People often ask if they can leave their Ollas in the ground over the winter.  

My general reply is, "If you live someplace where the ground freezes, NO, because they may crack."

Like terra cotta pots, Ollas absorb (and transfer) water . . . so leaving them in the ground through freeze-thaw weather cycles could cause cracking as the water in the walls of the Ollas freezes and expands.

But Ollas may be a little tougher than I though . . . I've left 3 Ollas buried in our gardens here in Wisconsin last winter, and all of them this winter, and they have all survived just fine.

One is pictured above.  As you can see, it has heaved out of the soil a little this year, but it is not cracked.  

We will likely dig them up and rebury them deeper this spring, and I would still recommend that you dig them up if your ground freezes in the winter .  . but they may be more durable than I thought.

Matt and I are going on a road trip!

We will be delivering Ollas along the way and have room for more.

Contact me if you are along our route and would like one (or other pottery!)  We can save you the expense of shipping.

A couple of years ago, there was some roadwork on our street and we all had our terraces torn up.  When it was finished, it seemed we were all seeding and watering, trying to make the grass grow back.  

One day our neighbor said, "Why are we all trying to grow grass?  We should all be planting stuff we can eat."  His idea was for us all to plant gardens at the street.

Naturally, Matt and I LOVED the idea!

Together with our neighbor we began talking the idea up.  As it turned out, there was lots of interest, but only two of us planted gardens at our curb . ..  our neighbor, and us . . . .  hardly the neighborhood display we imagined.

And, Matt and I really didn't need more garden space.  We are gardeners and already had gardens in both sideyards, and had dug up our entire back yard to convert to garden space (a little crazy, I know . . .)

So,  I wasn't sure the curb garden would stay . . . 

But, I have to tell you I LOVE the curb garden.  It makes us unique.  People have no trouble finding our house ("look for the house with the garden at the curb"), and we've gotten tons of appreciative comments and happy feed-back on it.

Occasionally, we'll put up signs inviting people to help themselves.  Kids on bikes stop and eat cherry tomatoes, teenagers tell us it's cool, parents with young children stop and let them out of strollers to pick stuff. . . it's so fun to watch..

People have offered us money, veggies for trade, and left kind notes.

One of the coolest things that happened this summer was the morning we found a card and a bag of warm muffins on our front stoop.  The card explained that the person who left it was new to our neighborhood, and was charmed by the garden.  She had taken some oregano and tomatoes when she walked by with her dog . . . the muffins were in exchange.  

Here it is:

How cool is this?

Shortly before the end of the season a man was 'power walking' as I brought in groceries.  Without breaking stride as he walked by, he reached out, grabbed a cherry tomato, tossed it in the air and caught it in his mouth.

I love it!

So I went out to take some photos for our Etsy shop today, and stopped to snap a photo of our parsley.   Admittedly, it has been a mild fall here in Wisconsin, but I am marveling at how great our Parsley still is - even in November!  

How we planted it using an Olla:  We dug a hole and planted the Olla.  Next drew a circle around the olla about 2 feet in diameter and sprinkled Parsley seeds in it.  We filled the Olla with water, and overhead watered for about 3 weeks.  After that, we just kept refilling the Olla!  I love our garden!