As you can imagine, I just had to try it. So I searched high and low all over the Phoenix area looking for these magic urns. I found one at Summer Winds nursery, which my husband quickly picked up for me.
I hear that some women ask their husbands for jewelry
Since the olla was both pricey ($34) and hard to find, I thought it would be worthwhile to also look into creating some of my own. I had seen quite a few tutorials online on how to make your own ollas. I thought it would be a good idea to try it out, and compare the results of the DIY version to the one I had just purchased.
The "real deal" vs. a DIY olla. Like twins, huh?
So I buried both of these in the ground a couple of feet away from each other a few weeks ago and planted black eyed peas around them. Next, I hand watered the seeds until they sprouted and grew an inch or so. Then, I watered them exclusively using the ollas. Here's how they look today:
DIY olla
The "real deal" olla
As you can see from the pictures, the leaves on the plants around the DIY are quite a bit crispier. I've noticed that this olla takes a lot less water than the "real deal." I assume that's because it was not fired at a lower temperature like the genuine article.
I guess that means that when it comes time to get more ollas, I will be shelling out the dough for the real thing.