Troubleshooting Olla Watering System Problems: Leaks, Clogs, and More

The Cottage Peach is reader-supported. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission at no additional cost to you. All opinions are our own.

Troubleshoot your DIY ollas with this guide!

Olla watering system leaking

If your olla pot is leaking, there could be a few causes. Start by examining the olla pot for any visible cracks or holes. These can occur due to manufacturing defects, accidental damage, or exposure to extreme temperatures. If the crack is small, it might be possible to seal it with a food-safe sealant. However, if the damage is extensive, the olla pot might need to be replaced. Olla pots are made from porous clay, which can allow water to seep through slowly. This is normal and not necessarily a leak. However, if the seepage is excessive, it could indicate that the pot is not made of true terracotta, causing watering to exit the pot too quickly through the side walls. If the olla pot has a drain hole that you've plugged, make sure it is properly sealed. An improperly sealed plug can allow water to leak out. Remove the olla from the garden, fill with water to look for leaks and check the seal for any damage or wear and tear. In rare cases, plant roots can grow into the olla pot and cause leaks. This is more likely to happen if the olla pot is buried too shallowly or if the plants are not properly spaced. If you suspect root intrusion, carefully remove the olla pot and check for any roots growing into it.

Olla watering system clogged

If the olla pot is buried in heavy clay soil or if the soil is not properly prepared before planting, soil and debris can clog the pores of the olla pot, preventing water from flowing out. This is more likely to happen in heavy clay soil. To prevent clogs, amend your soil with sand or coco coir. Over time, mineral deposits can build up inside the olla pot and cause clogs. This is more common in areas with hard water. To prevent mineral buildup, soak the olla pot in a solution of vinegar and water every few months. As mentioned earlier, plant roots can also grow into the olla pot and cause clogs. If you suspect root intrusion, carefully remove the olla pot and check for any roots growing into it.

Water isn't coming out of the olla watering system

If your olla isn't getting the soil damp within a two foot radius of the olla, it's most likely due to your olla not being made of true terracotta. This can happen with ollas made from "terracotta" purchased at big box stores, as they often use other types of clay dyed the same color as terracotta to cut costs. Other clay types may not work as well, because different clays have different levels of porosity. 

If the olla pot is buried too deep or too shallow, it can take longer for the water to reach the roots of the plants or the olla may dry out. The olla watering system should be buried right up to the neck of the olla. If the soil around the olla pot becomes compacted, it can prevent water from flowing out. To prevent soil compaction, avoid walking on the soil around the olla pot and add a layer of mulch to help keep the soil loose. As mentioned earlier, clogged pores can also cause slow drainage. If you suspect clogged pores, try soaking the olla pot in a solution of vinegar and water.

Olla watering system is drying out too quickly

A lid will significantly reduce water evaporation, meaning you will need to refill your olla watering system less often. This is especially important in hot and dry climates. It will help keep insects, birds, and other pests out of your olla's water. This is important for maintaining water quality and preventing diseases. It's important to make sure the lid fits snugly on the olla watering system to prevent pests and debris from entering and if you're using a lid made from a lightweight material, make sure it is heavy enough to stay in place but not so heavy that it cracks the olla. 

Bugs in olla watering system

Since some lid options have a lip on them, water can collect and stand inside of it. This water can grow algae and bacteria, as well as serve as a breeding ground for mosquitoes. But by adding small decorative stones or marbles to fill the space inside the lid, you can weigh the lid down as well as reduce the amount of water that's able to collect on the surface and even create a pollinator watering station since the rocks will provide resting spots for your local bees to stop and have a drink!

Regular maintenance can help prevent problems with your olla pots. Inspect your olla pots regularly for any signs of damage or wear and tear. Clean them every few months to prevent mineral buildup and clogs. Proper installation is essential for the effective operation of olla pots. Make sure your olla pots are buried at the correct depth and in well-draining soil. The frequency of refilling your olla pots will depend on your climate and the type of plants you are watering. In hot, dry climates, you may need to refill your olla pots more frequently.

WHAT IS AN OLLA WATERING SYSTEM?

Olla (pronounced oya) means “pot” in Spanish, but the concept of using ollas as an irrigation system goes back thousands of years and has been used in countless cultures around the world. An olla watering system is basically an unglazed eight to ten inch terracotta pot that is buried beneath the soil with only a small amount sticking up above the surface and filled with water. The water then leeches out of tiny holes or “pores” in the unglazed clay and is pulled through the soil to the roots of your thirsty plants using a process called soil moisture tension. This functions much the same way as osmosis, in that the water is trying to equalize to a certain level of moisture within the soil. This means your soil will never become overwatered either - if the soil is moist, the water stays in the pot until it is needed. The downsides of DIYing a system like this are that it can be hard to identify true terracotta - and other types of clays have different properties that make them not as well suited for this job. Plus, you have to fill each one manually every 2-5 days depending on how hot it is and most importantly they take up a lot of room in the garden beds. But thankfully, with the Thirsty Earth system all of those cons are eliminated.

WHY SHOULD YOU USE A Thirsty Earth OLLA WATERING System?

Hauling around a watering can and standing with a hose for 45 minutes isn't exactly a walk in the park for everyone, especially folks like me with arthritis. This past spring, I was right in the middle of a flare-up when I planted my garden. I knew I needed a way to water my plants without turning myself into a pretzel!

Imagine this: you water your plants, but most of the water just sits on top and bakes away in the sun. olla watering systems stop that waste! The water seeps out of the pot slowly, right where your plants need it most - at their roots. This fancy trick can slash your water use by up to 61%. Less water wasted means a lighter water bill and a happier planet.

Olla watering systems aren't just about saving water, they're also all about growing healthy plants! Since the water seeps out underground, plant roots stretch out searching for that moisture. This makes them stronger and helps your plants stand tall. Olla watering systems also keep the leaves of your plants dry, making it harder for fungus and disease to spread. And the slow release of water means your plants get the perfect amount to drink, never too much.

Basically, olla watering systems create happy, healthy plants that can take on anything. But, each olla can only cover an area of about 2 feet all around it (depending on the system you use, but this is true for the ThirstyEarth ollas). So depending on the size and shape of your garden, you'll need to keep this in mind when choosing your olla placement.

Thirsty Earth Olla Watering System Review

Since it can be hard to find genuine terracotta pots affordably in your area, and they take up a lot of space in the garden, the Thirsty Earth olla watering system can be a good compromise that allows you to actually hook up your ollas to an automatic rainwater harvesting system that will continuously refill your ollas for you on it’s own from free rainwater collected from your roof. Plus they are about the size of a water bottle, so they don’t waste precious planting space. I added the Thirsty Earth system to two of my raised beds, and since the system is super easy to customize to whatever garden bed configuration you have, you don’t have to worry about not having the right parts or enough pieces to get it done. The website does a great job of showing you exactly how to lay out the cotta cups and it’s made an already pretty hands-off system completely self-sustaining; water is collected from my roof into a 50 gallon barrel, flows automatically into reservoirs and down the irrigation tube into individual terracotta cups. Setup is easy thanks to the push to connect fittings that come with every kit. You just lay out your cups, cut the included tubing to size and connect everything with the fittings. No need to understand plumbing or any special building skills and you won't need any special tools either. Once everything is set up, you can leave it all summer and the reservoir will refill automatically from your rain barrel or you can manually refill it about once a week. I know it sounds too good to be true, but it really is that easy.

Other posts in this olla watering system series:

DIY OLLA WATERING SYSTEM INSTRUCTIONS

THIRSTYEARTH OLLA POT REVIEW

OLLA POT PLACEMENT GUIDE

OLLA POTS FOR CONTAINER GARDENING

DIY OLLA POT LID IDEAS

TROUBLESHOOTING OLLA POT PROBLEMS

COMPARING OLLA POTS VS. OTHER WATERING SYSTEMS

OLLA POTS AND COMPANION PLANTING

DIY Olla Pot Lid Ideas: Keeping Bugs Out and Water In

The Cottage Peach is reader-supported. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission at no additional cost to you. All opinions are our own.

Making your own DIY ollas can be as simple or complex as you want it to be. But, if you're going to keep bugs, dirt and other debris out of your ollas it's important to make sure and put a lid on them. Since I'm often asked what lid to use for ollas, I wanted to share some creative and practical lid options for olla pots, from repurposed materials to DIY crafts.

Olla lids aren't just important for preventing pest problems and keeping out debris, they also help prevent water evaporation so you don't have to refill your ollas as often. And since reducing water usage is a big reason why many of us love to use olla watering systems in our gardens, having a lid is pretty non-negotiable! If you need full instructions for how to make a diy olla, you can tap here. But if you're just looking for olla lid options, keep reading below!

DIY Olla Lid Ideas

You can use terracotta saucers as olla lids. These can be found at garden centers or repurposed from broken pots. They are the perfect size for many olla pots and provide a classic look that matches the terracotta coloring of the olla itself. They also usually weigh enough on their own without needing additional rocks etc to keep them from blowing away in the wind. However, since they are porous they may still allow a decent amount of water to be lost to evaporation.

Repurposing plastic lids from yogurt containers, sour cream containers, or other food storage containers is a great way to keep these items out of the landfill - just make sure that they are food-safe if you are growing edible plants. Since this option is very lightweight, you'll need to add small stones, marbles or something else heavy to keep it from blowing away.

A chipped china plate destined for the garbage or picked up secondhand at your local thrift store can easily serve a new purpose in your garden as an olla lid. Bonus points if it's got a pretty design on it to bring some life and personality to your garden space! These can be a bit fragile to have in the garden, so be sure to handle with care and be mindful of any sharp edges.

If you have large flat flagstones around your garden, these can also be used as lids. Ensure they are heavy enough to stay in place but not so heavy that they crack the olla pot. Sometimes these collect dirt and can get messy and hard to move around if you have hand pain or weakness, and be mindful of any sharp edges with these too.

You can also cut a piece of wood to size to use as a lid and decorate with paint or woodburning. However a wood lid won't last as long as the other options listed above as it weathers and is exposed to the elements.

Benefits of Using an olla with a Lid

A lid will significantly reduce water evaporation, meaning you will need to refill your olla pot less often. This is especially important in hot and dry climates. It will help keep insects, birds, and other pests out of your olla pot's water. This is important for maintaining water quality and preventing diseases. It's important to make sure the lid fits snugly on the olla pot to prevent pests and debris from entering and if you're using a lid made from a lightweight material, make sure it is heavy enough to stay in place but not so heavy that it cracks the olla pot. 

Since some lid options have a lip on them, water can collect and stand inside of it. This water can grow algae and bacteria, as well as serve as a breeding ground for mosquitoes. But by adding small decorative stones or marbles to fill the space inside the lid, you can weigh the lid down as well as reduce the amount of water that's able to collect on the surface and even create a pollinator watering station since the rocks will provide resting spots for your local bees to stop and have a drink!

WHAT IS AN OLLA WATERING SYSTEM?

Olla (pronounced oya) means “pot” in Spanish, but the concept of using ollas as an irrigation system goes back thousands of years and has been used in countless cultures around the world. An olla watering system is basically an unglazed eight to ten inch terracotta pot that is buried beneath the soil with only a small amount sticking up above the surface and filled with water. The water then leeches out of tiny holes or “pores” in the unglazed clay and is pulled through the soil to the roots of your thirsty plants using a process called soil moisture tension. This functions much the same way as osmosis, in that the water is trying to equalize to a certain level of moisture within the soil. This means your soil will never become overwatered either - if the soil is moist, the water stays in the pot until it is needed. The downsides of DIYing a system like this are that it can be hard to identify true terracotta - and other types of clays have different properties that make them not as well suited for this job. Plus, you have to fill each one manually every 2-5 days depending on how hot it is and most importantly they take up a lot of room in the garden beds. But thankfully, with the Thirsty Earth system all of those cons are eliminated.

WHY SHOULD YOU USE A Thirsty Earth OLLA WATERING System?

Hauling around a watering can and standing with a hose for 45 minutes isn't exactly a walk in the park for everyone, especially folks like me with arthritis. This past spring, I was right in the middle of a flare-up when I planted my garden. I knew I needed a way to water my plants without turning myself into a pretzel!

Imagine this: you water your plants, but most of the water just sits on top and bakes away in the sun. olla watering systems stop that waste! The water seeps out of the pot slowly, right where your plants need it most - at their roots. This fancy trick can slash your water use by up to 61%. Less water wasted means a lighter water bill and a happier planet.

Olla watering systems aren't just about saving water, they're also all about growing healthy plants! Since the water seeps out underground, plant roots stretch out searching for that moisture. This makes them stronger and helps your plants stand tall. Olla watering systems also keep the leaves of your plants dry, making it harder for fungus and disease to spread. And the slow release of water means your plants get the perfect amount to drink, never too much.

Basically, olla watering systems create happy, healthy plants that can take on anything. But, each olla can only cover an area of about 2 feet all around it (depending on the system you use, but this is true for the ThirstyEarth ollas). So depending on the size and shape of your garden, you'll need to keep this in mind when choosing your olla placement.

Thirsty Earth Olla Watering System Review

Since it can be hard to find genuine terracotta pots affordably in your area, and they take up a lot of space in the garden, the Thirsty Earth olla watering system can be a good compromise that allows you to actually hook up your ollas to an automatic rainwater harvesting system that will continuously refill your ollas for you on it’s own from free rainwater collected from your roof. Plus they are about the size of a water bottle, so they don’t waste precious planting space. I added the Thirsty Earth system to two of my raised beds, and since the system is super easy to customize to whatever garden bed configuration you have, you don’t have to worry about not having the right parts or enough pieces to get it done. The website does a great job of showing you exactly how to lay out the cotta cups and it’s made an already pretty hands-off system completely self-sustaining; water is collected from my roof into a 50 gallon barrel, flows automatically into reservoirs and down the irrigation tube into individual terracotta cups. Setup is easy thanks to the push to connect fittings that come with every kit. You just lay out your cups, cut the included tubing to size and connect everything with the fittings. No need to understand plumbing or any special building skills and you won't need any special tools either. Once everything is set up, you can leave it all summer and the reservoir will refill automatically from your rain barrel or you can manually refill it about once a week. I know it sounds too good to be true, but it really is that easy.

Other posts in this olla watering system series:

DIY OLLA WATERING SYSTEM INSTRUCTIONS

THIRSTYEARTH OLLA POT REVIEW

OLLA POT PLACEMENT GUIDE

OLLA POTS FOR CONTAINER GARDENING

DIY OLLA POT LID IDEAS

TROUBLESHOOTING OLLA POT PROBLEMS

COMPARING OLLA POTS VS. OTHER WATERING SYSTEMS

OLLA POTS AND COMPANION PLANTING

Olla Watering System: Everything You Need to Know to Get Started

The Cottage Peach is reader-supported. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission at no additional cost to you. All opinions are our own.

Did you know you can water your entire garden bed without lifting a finger and reduce your waste water by 70% for about $5 using just a clay pot? Today I’m going to show you how to make a self watering olla pot system for your own garden.

What is an olla watering system?

Olla (pronounced oya) means “pot” in Spanish, but the concept of using ollas as an irrigation system goes back thousands of years and has been used in countless cultures around the world. An olla watering system is basically any type of unglazed clay pot that is buried beneath the soil with only a small amount sticking up above the surface and filled with water. You can tell that a pot is unglazed because it will be that classic terracotta red color with no shiny finish, glaze or paint. The water then leeches out of tiny holes or “pores” in the unglazed clay and is pulled through the soil to the roots of your thirsty plants using a process called soil moisture tension. This functions much the same way as osmosis, in that the water is trying to equalize to a certain level of moisture within the soil. This means your soil will never become overwatered either - if the soil is moist, the water stays in the pot until it is needed.

Why should you use an olla watering pot?

Watering the garden is a task that isn’t easy for everyone. Personally, I struggle with bending down and kneeling in the garden to water and weed because of my arthritis. When I was planning my garden this past spring I was in the middle of a bad flare and I knew I needed to choose an irrigation system that would ease some of the physical demands of gardening and allow me to continue growing all the fruits and vegetables I could without hurting myself. There are so many different watering systems available today, from drip irrigation to sprinklers, but I wanted to find something that was budget-friendly and used common everyday items.

An olla pot is perfect for garden irrigation because all you need is a clay pot and some type of lid. You only need to fill them every 2-5 days depending on your climate (hotter, dryer climates will be on the lower end of that spectrum and wetter, cooler climates on the higher end) and it takes just one minute or so to fill the pot from your watering can versus standing there for ages with a hose.

As of August 30, 2022, 38.23% of the U.S. and 45.53% of the Lower 48 states were in drought. With climate change on the rise, this number is only expected to get worse. I know in our tiny town we are under a water restriction notice for most of the summer, and this is a common issue in many neighborhoods. I’ve even heard a few reports that said to expect summer 2022 to be the coolest for the rest of our lives - and it felt like the hottest one yet. Not only does a watering restriction in your town eliminate hose watering as an option, it means any watering system you do use should be as efficient and waste as little water as possible.

Olla pots reduce wasted water by about seventy percent, since most of the moisture is held underground and not lost to surface evaporation. This is a huge savings over traditional watering methods and means you can significantly reduce your water consumption in our drought-prone climate. This will lower your water bill as well as make your homestead more environmentally friendly!

Olla pots also help you to grow happier and healthier plants. The root systems in your plants will also be healthier, as they reach out towards the underground water the roots will become larger and sturdier, keeping your plants from falling over. Most importantly, plants that are watered at the soil level are less prone to infection with certain fungal diseases that thrive in damp environments, since the leaves of your plants will not get wet as often. Because of the soil moisture tension phenomenon, your plants will also never be overwatered.

What is the best olla pot you can buy?

This DIY olla may not be for you if you can’t find genuine terracotta pots affordably in your area, or don’t have the time to make one yourself. If you can’t make your own olla, or you want hook up your ollas to an automatic rainwater harvesting system that will continuously refill your ollas for you from free rainwater collected from your roof, check out this automated olla watering system.

I added this drip irrigation/olla hybrid setup to 3 of my raised beds, and it’s made an already pretty hands-off system completely self-sustaining; water is collected from my roof into a 50 gallon barrel, flows automatically into reservoirs and down the irrigation tube into individual terracotta cups. Setup is easy - in my opinion, this is the perfect garden watering solution.

What plants grow well with olla pots?

There is some debate about whether olla pots work for any type of plant. Of course, all plants have different water needs and root systems. In my experience and from comments in my community, there doesn’t seem to be any plant that can’t thrive with an olla pot - from trees to squash, corn and beans, all the way down to simple lettuce. Experiment in your own garden and find what works best for you!

How do you make an olla watering system?

Here’s the supplies you will need to make an olla watering pot system:

• 1 eight to ten inch unglazed terracotta pot per 4x4 foot area - click here for the ones I use

• Moldable glue if your pot has a hole in the bottom (I like sugru)

• Plant saucer to use as a lid - click here for the lids I use

• A rock or two to weight down your lid
  

1. You will want to start by calculating how many olla pots you will need. As a general rule of thumb, you should have one olla pot per four by four foot area in your garden. The olla pot can water up to two feet away from where it is buried, which means even if your garden is just two feet wide by eight feet long you’d want two olla pots - one every two feet.

2. If your olla pot has a hole in the bottom, you’ll need to cover this so the water you put in doesn’t just pour right out the bottom. You can cover the hole in the bottom of the olla pot with sugru moldable glue, caulking, clay, poster mounting putty, a cork or something similar.

3. Dig out a space to bury your olla pot in your garden bed. You can olla pots in raised beds or in-ground gardens, but you’ll need larger olla pots for in-ground beds, ten to twelve inches should be fine. The hole should be about as deep as your pot is tall - however, my raised beds are too shallow to fully bury the pot and they still work fine.

4. Place your olla pot into the hole and replace the soil around the edges of the olla.

Fill the olla with water and cover with your chosen lid. This helps to keep bugs out and prevents the water from just evaporating before it has a chance to seep into the soil. My lid is very lightweight, so I chose to weigh it down with a rock and then decided to add even more small pebbles and rocks to create a watering station for pollinators.

Depending on your climate you will need to refill the olla every 2-5 days. I recommend checking it the day after you install to make sure there’s no leaks in your olla - if all the water is gone and it wasn’t a heat wave that day I’d check your seal and try again. Then check every other day until you get a sense for how often you need to refill the pot.

wILL YOU TRY THIS EASY WAY TO WATER YOUR GARDEN? lET ME KNOW IN THE COMMENTS IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS!

Other posts in this olla watering system series:

DIY OLLA WATERING SYSTEM INSTRUCTIONS

THIRSTYEARTH OLLA POT REVIEW

OLLA POT PLACEMENT GUIDE

OLLA POTS FOR CONTAINER GARDENING

DIY OLLA POT LID IDEAS

TROUBLESHOOTING OLLA POT PROBLEMS

COMPARING OLLA POTS VS. OTHER WATERING SYSTEMS

OLLA POTS AND COMPANION PLANTING

How To Make A DIY Cattle Panel Greenhouse [plans]

As a gardener living in New England, winter is kind of brutal. We only get about 5 really good months for growing food outdoors and the rest of the time the landscape is just brown and dead and dried out with no signs of life whatsoever, or everything is covered in a foot of snow. So I’m planning to utilize these DIY cattle panel greenhouse plans to grow food all winter long when nothing else will grow outside. But first, I wanted to touch on why this project is happening and my motivation behind this project.

Gardening For Mental Health

I have dealt with pretty bad anxiety most of my life. Being out in the garden has become an essential piece of protecting my mental health and reducing that anxiety. It seems backwards but honestly accepting the total lack of control I have over what happens in the garden has been super healing for me and having something to nurture and care for that sort of depends on me gives me a sense of purpose. Beyond that the sensory experience of literally having my bare hands in the soil is something that grounds me and is honestly just life giving. When I think about totally losing that outlet for the entire long winter I get a literal pit in my stomach to the point where I only half jokingly talk about wanting to just move somewhere warmer.

Gardening For Physical Wellness

With my arthritis and chronic pain I need to have options for moving my body that are gentle and consistent. Planting, checking on the plants, weeding and harvesting all offer me opportunities to move my body in a way that doesn’t necessarily cause more harm than good and just keeps me active and gives me an excuse to get outside for some fresh air - which if you know anything about winter in New England, it’s tough. It’s tough to convince yourself that you WANT to go out when it’s two degrees outside and everything just looks bleak. But with a hoop house I’ll have an excuse to really take a walk and check on things and just spend some time outside of the house during the day.

Another big motivation for me is that I love to experiment. The garden is like one big playground for adults. And I firmly believe adults need to play too. There are always puzzles to be solved, and it’s so rewarding when you try something new and it actually works.

Can You Really Grow Food In The Winter?

The concept of growing food all winter in our cold northern climate isn’t unheard of, but it’s definitely uncommon, I know I’m guilty of assuming it would be impossible whether because of the low temperatures or the shorter daylight hours and I’m just really psyched to be trying something new and sharing it with you so hopefully you can be inspired to give it a try and keep gardening all year round regardless of the weather conditions.

I’ve made it my job to empower you to feel confident in trying new things in the garden. Gardening is one of those life skills that builds confidence in other areas of life but you need to be a little brave to get started because there’s always this fear hanging over your head that you’ll put all this work in and the crops will still fail due to either you not knowing something you should or circumstances beyond your control like pests or disease. But gardening is also one of those things where if you can give yourself permission to make those mistakes you will learn and get better and grow in that confidence.

Change Your Climate + Move Your Garden Grow Zone 1.5 Zones Lower

Hoop houses are used by growers in all types of climates for many different reasons - but the main goal is climate control, whether that is to make the growing area colder using the artificial shade created or warmer by taking advantage of the insulating properties of the covered area to effectively move your grow zone south.

If you’ve never seen a hoop house before, you probably have and just didn’t realize it! The basic idea is that you form some sort of rounded roof structure using metal rods, cattle panel or pvc that bends down and is anchored to the ground and cover that with heavy duty greenhouse plastic that lets light in but keeps wind out and provides some insulation.

There’s a ton of different ways to build these and kits you can buy but for the purposes of this project, I’m specifically referring to a cold, totally unheated hoop house that can be used to grow year round in northern climates where I would otherwise be limited by the sub zero temps we experience here in Massachusetts.

So what am I NOT talking about? This is not a “cool” hoop house that might utilize some form of heat throughout the winter and require a double layer of greenhouse plastic, blowers and all that. I’m also not referring to this as a high tunnel because it’s kind of not. The terms are often used interchangeably, but in this case I’m going to be building a relatively small, low structure. It’s going to be about 7 feet across and 12.5 feet long with just enough room to stand up in the center. When I think high tunnel I think high ceilings, built in irrigation, venting fans and the whole nine yards which is great but just not the goal for this particular project.

We can’t talk about unheated hoop houses without acknowledging the king of organic winter gardening, Eliot Coleman. This guy is one hundred percent the inspiration behind this project and my main resource in planning this project. If you’re considering doing something similar with a hoop house the very first thing you should do is grab his book “The Winter Harvest Handbook” because it’s going to go into even further detail on exactly how this all works on a larger market garden scale from someone with literally 40 plus years of experience growing in an extremely cold climate at scale. A lot of the concepts and strategies I am going to be talking about are straight from Eliot. One of the things I love about Eliot is he outright says in his book that he WANTS people to innovate on his strategies, take what he’s done and run with it and make it their own so I’m excited to follow in his footsteps here and put my own spin on it.

It’s so easy to get bogged down in the research with an unfamiliar project like this and end up not actually starting because you get overwhelmed, and my method for avoiding this is to kind of pick one expert and latch onto their resources as my kind of main resource going forward and then if I have specific questions as I’m going through the material, google is my best friend. It helps that his climate isn’t too far off from mine, and it’s actually “worse” in that it’s colder so realistically I should have an even easier time growing some of these crops overwintered.

I want you to feel empowered to build your own hoop house, which meant I needed to choose a design that was easy and cheap and used the most basic materials possible. This cold hoop house will be totally off grid and scalable so you can make one any size that you want. I’ll be using sections of cattle panel to form the tunnel roof of the hoop house and holding it in place with tension only using rebar and supportive cross beams at the base. This means I won’t need to do any digging, post setting etc and the structure will be easy to remove when I’m finished with it.

diy cattle panel greenhouse plans

If you’ve always dreamed of having a greenhouse but you can’t afford it, a hoop house might be a better fit for you. Honestly, this hoop house is a temporary experiment. I have big plans for this section of the backyard and eventually will be adding a much larger permanent structure off of the main house that will actually be climate controlled. But that project is basically going to be on the scale of a full house addition in the form of a workspace/sunroom, and it’s going to require actual grading and pouring a foundation and some type of custom design that will actually sit up against the existing house.

In the meantime, I knew I wanted to keep growing food throughout the winter and I had to decide if it was worth investing thousands of dollars into a smaller greenhouse and foundation that wasn’t actually what I wanted long term.

I had all these crazy ideas of how I could heat a greenhouse structure utilizing waste exhaust heat from the pellet stove that I use to heat my house to make a thermal sink, and I still think that would be such a fun project to experiment with and utilize passive heat for a greenhouse, but I really wanted to show a super accessible way that you could create a barebones setup that pretty much anyone could build regardless of skill level or budget first, and prove that concept works before scaling it up to something that is commonly used and known to work but not super accessible to everyone.

There’s kind of this divide with garden content creators that I personally have trouble deciding which side I’m on, between those gardeners who are kind of like, make do and mend so they have this ingenuity and kind of macgyver attitude and they’ll use whatever they have on hand to make a project work for them within a really limited budget and they’re less concerned with how the final end result actually looks and I so admire this - it’s more sustainable and makes it possible for people to garden who otherwise might not be able to afford it, but my issue with it is that these DIYs are usually way more labor intensive and for myself personally dealing with chronic pain from my arthritis I’m often put in the position of having to decide if these types of energy expenditures are something that I can physically handle.

So there’s the financial privilege aspect of it where these DIYers are providing more accessible options for people who have those budget limitations but then on the flip side there’s the ableist privilege aspect of it where those DIY options aren’t always physically available to those of us with disabilities. And this came into play a ton with my raised bed build where I built raised beds to waist height so I wouldn’t need to bend down, because I get comments all of the time that container gardens suck and why don’t I just garden in the ground from people who obviously aren’t thinking from the perspective of others having different levels of physical ability from them.

Of course this played a huge part in my thought process while I was trying to decide whether I should build a greenhouse or not. And the reality is that it’s a much more labor AND money intensive project to build a greenhouse, you need to grade land and pour a foundation and mount glass panels. So it became clear to me that that is going to be a project for the professionals, and cutting corners with some sort of smaller greenhouse structure wasn’t going to give me the result I want and would have still been a pretty decent investment to create something that could actually support life in our cold climate.

So that brings me to the hoop house. I’ve said before that there are a ton of different ways to build a hoop house using kits or from scratch. But even these kits require you to bend your own metal pipes and set posts and all these bigger construction tasks that I knew wouldn’t be possible for me physically with my arthritis. And actually here’s where I need to give another shout-out because I stumbled across Briana from Blossom and Branch farm’s cattle panel tunnel that she converts into a covered hoop house for the winter. Her build looked super simple which is exactly what I needed and then things just kind of spiraled from there when it became clear that this method of using cattle panel would be not only physically accessible but financially super affordable too.

The method I finally settled on using the rebar to anchor the cattle panels is actually covered in detail on Homesteading Family’s page. Their tunnels are MUCH longer than what I’ll be doing with just three panels but the concept is the same. So just another shout out there because I want to make sure I’m giving credit where it’s due - I did not invent these ideas, just putting my own spin on it.

So at the end of the day would I love to have a huge beautiful climate controlled glass greenhouse? Of course! I’m a very visual person and I’m not super thrilled about adding a plastic covered tunnel to the garden. But sometimes big goals require that we take small steps first and this hoop house is the beginning of something big.

Where To Put Your diy cattle panel Greenhouse: Don’t Skip This Step If You Want To Grow Food All Winter

If you want to grow food all winter proper planning can make or break your chances of success so let’s dive into exactly what you need to do to get ready for tons of winter harvests.

With a diy cattle panel greenhouse especially for winter growing, you’ll notice that almost all of the time growers orient these with the ends on an east-west axis and there’s a pretty good reason for this - it follows the sun to provide maximum passive heating because the long side is going to be getting the most southern exposure which is the line that the sun travels along throughout the day.

Once you have your orientation the next most important thing to consider is any shade that will be present. This is less of a concern in the winter when the trees are bare with no leaves, but it’s important to keep in mind that the sun is going to be traveling across the sky much lower than it does in the summer months, which means they could block that southern side of your hoop house from actually receiving direct sunlight and create shade that will cool your hoop house. So I do have a pretty heavy treeline, but I know from living here for two decades now that the shade isn’t really going to reach out over the spot I’ve selected.

The last consideration is going to be the grade of the land. I do have a pretty steep slope where my greenhouse is located, as the house is set into a hill. At this point grading the land isn’t an option. I am a little concerned about how the drainage is going to be at this spot because it kind of sits on a lower tier, but this section also has a slope of its own and again, from living here I know that it’s not a particularly muddy area so we’re going to try and see what happens. This will be good to observe for future more permanent greenhouse plans as well.

Now that we’ve got an idea of where the best location is, you need to figure out how big your hoop house is going to be because this is probably going to be limited by the area you have to work with.

In my case the overall width is going to be limited again because of the materials I’ve chosen to use. If you want something wider than 7 feet and you’re going to use cattle panel like I am, you’re going to end up sacrificing headspace for standing up and are probably better off going with a more traditional hoop house structure using bent metal pipes. And unless you’re willing to cut the cattle panel down which comes with some risks since the sharp metal edges could snag on your greenhouse plastic and cause tears, you’re also stuck to increments of about 4 feet or whatever the width of your chosen panels is. So that’s how I landed on the 7x12 foot structure for my own build, because that is the length of three cattle panels when they’re butted up to each other.

How to Build a DIY Cattle Panel greenhouse

You can build your own diy cattle panel greenhouse with these plans easily in an afternoon with just the help of one other person, and you don’t need any special skills or carpentry experience either. The hardest part is honestly just getting the cattle panel - they are huge, so unless you have a truck you’ll probably need to rent something or have them delivered.

SUPPLIES

• 16’ Cattle Panel (3)

• ½” Steel Rebar (8)

• 12’x6” Wood Boards (2)

• Heavy Duty Zip Ties (UV Stabilized)

• Greenhouse Plastic (6mil UV Stabilized)

• Self-Adhesive Zipper

• Tarp Clips

• Lightweight Row Cover (I used Agribon-19)

INSTRUCTIONS:

Prep soil

Assuming this is a new garden bed, you’ll need to prep the soil. After marking out my corners, I laid a tarp over the grass for two weeks to kill it, dug out the roots with a shovel and amended with compost.

Set rebar

Using a mallet, drive the rebar posts into the four corners and every 3 feet along the long edges

Set boards

The wood boards just rest up against the rebar on the inside edge.

Set panels

With assistance, lift one short end of the cattle panel to your hips. Slowly walk towards each other to bend the panel into an upside down U shape. Once the panel is bent, walk over to the wood baseboards you set into place and press the panel until it fits in between the wood. Slowly release the panels, allowing the tension to hold the panels in place against the wood. Repeat with all panels.

Using the heavy duty zip ties, connect the panels to each other. I used one zip tie every other open square. You can also zip tie the panels to the rebar stakes to anchor it to the ground.

Add greenhouse plastic

Unroll your plastic and lay across the top of your cattle panel. Secure the edges with the tarp clips and cut away excess. To form the end walls and door, cut panels to fit the opening leaving excess to overlap at the edges and secure to the edge of the cattle panel. On the door end, attach the adhesive zipper in the center and cut your doorway opening using the tool provided in the zipper kit. Bury the long edge of the greenhouse plastic along the length of the greenhouse on the outside by digging a furrow four inches deep, laying the extra plastic in the furrow and replacing the soil to secure it.

If you’re a visual learner I have a whole video walkthrough showing how to build a diy cattle panel greenhouse yourself with these plans on my YouTube channel. Watch now:

What To Grow in A Winter Garden

What food can you harvest from your garden when the soil is only 32 degrees fahrenheit? The list is longer than you’d think. A lot of your favorite fall crops can survive down to these temps, and actually the issue isn’t so much the temperature that kills plants but a lack of daylight hours and the stress caused by wind chill. This is why I said harvest and not grow - at a certain point in the year when your daylight hours go below 10 hours a day, plant growth is going to stop. Now this doesn’t mean the plant will die - but it isn’t getting enough energy from that sunlight to produce new growth. So we aren’t technically GROWING in the winter, but HARVESTING plants that we grew in the fall. Which means timing this planting is super important. So let's dive into exactly what I’ve decided to try to grow in the hoop house this winter, including one I swore I would never grow:

Gai Choy Mustard

This mustard matures in 40-60 days and grows anywhere from six to ten inches wide and ten to twelve inches tall. This is a head forming traditional Chinese mustard with a mild flavor when it’s young.

Bloomsdale Spinach

This is a dependable, open pollinated variety that matures in 28-45 days and grows about six to eight inches tall with dark green, thick and curly leaves. It’s a prolific grower with tender leaves and rich flavor.

Common Sorrel

This green has been popular in France and England for centuries but for some reason it isn’t as popular in the states. It matures in 60 days with bright green crinkled leaves that have a lemony spinach flavor.

Easter Egg Radish

This blend has red, white, pink purple and bi colored radishes that mature in just 30 days. Easter egg is a mild and crisp radish that forms small one inch globe shaped roots, so if you don’t like the spiciness of other radishes you may want to try this one.

French breakfast radish

These radishes are super mild - almost sweet and mature in 28 days. The root is scarlet with a white tip about 1 inch around and 2 or 3 inches long.

Spanish black radish

This is an extra large medium spicy radish that matures in 60-70 days with a black exterior and white interior. The globes are about 3-4 inches in diameter when mature. Since this is a winter radish it needs shortening day length and cool temps to mature, so this one gets planted later than the other radish varieties I’m growing.

Bok Choy Choko

I can’t live without this for my stir fries and this variety is so good and tender when harvested when it’s only about four inches tall. It matures in around 50 days and has smooth, leafy blades in a cluster with crisp, pale green stems. Choko was bred to be small and heat tolerant.

Big Seeded Mache

Mache can survive temperatures down to ten degrees fahrenheit and matures in 60 days. It’ll grow to be about six inches tall and eight inches in diameter with dark green, spoon shaped soft leaves in a loose rosette.

Tokyo Long White Bunching Scallion

These Japanese scallions are long, slender, mild and mature in 65 days. They are sweet enough to use in pretty much anything from salads, soups, and stir-fry dishes and grow about 16-18 inches tall.

Olesh Tres Fine Endive

This is a mildly bitter flavored green with a really interesting frilly texture that matures in 42-70 days. It grows about six inches wide and tall in rosettes with broad crinkled green leaves.

Ruby Red Swiss Chard

Chard can withstand moderate freezes and matures in 50-60 days, growing about 24 inches tall and eighteen inches wide with dark green crinkled leaves, red veins and stalks. I use this the same way I use spinach

Danvers Carrot

This variety was actually created an hour from where I live way back in the day when growers were looking for a carrot with improved yield, color and uniformity. It matures in about 65 days. It’s a sweet classic carrot that’s resistant to cracks and splits and roots grow about six inches long.

Astro Arugula

I said I would never grow this, but there’s very few foods I actively dislike and I have a personal rule that I re-try foods I hate about once a year in different forms or varieties and since arugula is so cold hardy, I had to bite the bullet with this and try a new type to see if I can learn to love it. Astro matures in 32-55 days and supposedly has more of a mild flavor than other varieties when the plants are young so I’m hopeful.

Mizuna Mustard

This tender Japanese mustard is milder than other varieties and ready to harvest in 30-50 days. It can grow up to a foot tall and wide but it’s usually harvested when it’s smaller.

Rosette Tatsoi

This beautiful leafy green is more flavorful than traditional bok choy and matures in 45 days. It is super cold tolerant down to 15 degrees fahrenheit and can be harvested even in the snow. It grows pretty low and wide with spoon shaped dark green thick leaves in a rosette.

Tendergreen Mustard

This is also called mustard spinach, but it’s not actually mustard OR spinach. It’s super easy to grow, hardy and productive and matures fast in 30 days to be about two feet tall and up to two feet wide with smooth dark green glossy leaves.

Plant a Sustainable Future: Celebrating Earth Day with DIY Wildflower Seed Balls

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One of my most loved books from childhood is Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney. Miss Rumphius was inspired by the real life "Lupine Lady," Hilda Hamlin, who spread lupine seeds along the Maine coast. The story follows Miss Rumphius through her younger days into old age as she spreads lupine seeds from her bicycle all the way up until she is lying sick in bed and enjoying the view she has created outside her bedroom window after spreading all these seeds over the years. This imagery has always been powerful to me, but it was made even more so after I read The Well-Gardened Mind by Sue Stuart Smith this past winter and learned how patients staying in hospital rooms with a nature-facing window recover 37% faster than patients who do not have this visual access to nature at all. This is leading to more hospitals instituting green spaces throughout their campuses as a real, science-backed method of care.

Reading this fact, it got me thinking that even outside of the carefully date driven measurements within a hospital, surely there must be some benefit to our wellbeing in simply going about our days surrounded by natural beauty. It’s not a far stretch when you picture how much more peaceful you feel outside. The sturdy presence of ancient trees combined with swaying branches, birdsong and the thrill of a flower in bloom stimulates our minds and encourages us to be mindful.

I imagine spreading seeds just like The Lupine Lady herself did, bringing beauty to the landscapes I call home and even leaving a legacy in the form of wildflowers throughout the land. It is the kind of quiet hope we all need these days - a flower popping up where there wasn’t one before. An offering to pause and enjoy our surroundings.

With the arrival of Earth Day 2025, I am feeling the pull even stronger than usual to do something to connect with the Earth, celebrate the natural beauty around us and bring awareness to what needs to change in order to protect our home planet. The first Earth Day took place in 1970, marking the beginning of the modern day environmental movement as we now know it. It offers us the opportunity to promote conservation and sustainability, raising awareness of the impacts our decisions have on the environment. On this day, around 1 billion individuals across more than 190 countries take action to raise awareness of the climate crisis and bring about behavioral change to protect the environment through reducing our energy use, carbon footprint and more. It really is a great opportunity to reflect and find new ways to support our one and only home.

So where do seed bombs fit into all of this? Seed bombs are a fun and accessible way to bring a joyful nature activity into your Earth Day celebrations. Seed bombs are simply a collection of biodegradable materials like paper and clay shredded and combined with a variety of wildflower seeds, molded into a ball shape (or any shape you like really) and dried. Once dry, you can drop them on blank areas of earth by roadsides or parks and the ball will naturally break down in the elements, leaving only the seeds behind which will plant themselves and hopefully grow into beautiful flowers to support our pollinators. 

As you’ll see, there are as many ways to make seed bombs as there are hands to make them with. But here are some of the main ingredients you can use in a seed bomb DIY:

Newspaper/paper scraps: any paper destined for the recycling bin will do, although you may want to ensure any dyes used were soy-based if you’re concerned about leaching dyes into the soil. Personally I think newspaper is just fine even if you can’t confirm the inks are soy based, but I wouldn’t necessarily use a brightly colored construction paper for this one since the dyes probably aren’t good for the soil.

Clay: if you’re having trouble with your seed bombs sticking together, clay is an excellent binder that can help give them some structural integrity. You don’t need this for a successful seed bomb though.

Topsoil and compost: Compost and topsoil aren’t strictly necessary for a wildflower seed bomb, but they will provide your seeds a little extra boost and may increase germination rates (or how many of your seeds will actually grow into flowers) since you’re effectively coating the seeds which mimics being buried in the ground. The thing about wildflower seeds is that they spread through landing on the surface of soil all the time, so they don’t really need to be buried to grow usually.

Seeds: You won’t need a huge bucket of seeds here since the majority of the mass of the seed ball is made up of the paper, but it is important to choose wildflower seed varieties or herbs and vegetables that are native to your area and will not encourage invasive species to grow.

The importance of choosing native seeds

Why does it matter what seeds you use in your wildflower seed bombs? Because the last thing you want to be doing on Earth Day is actually planting invasive plants that will crowd out native species. An invasive species is an introduced species that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Invasive species adversely affect habitats and bioregions, causing ecological, environmental, and/or economic damage. Not a good thing! On the other hand, native plants will encourage and support your local pollinators by providing a diverse food source and tend to require less care, watering and other maintenance since they are hard-wired to grow well in your climate.

The easiest way to ensure you’re planting native seeds is to buy a seed mix like this one. If you are outside of the USA, try to find a local garden supply company that can help you. Otherwise I’d recommend just choosing three or four flowers you’d like to grow and using trusty Google to confirm they are native to your area. I could give you a list that would cover the major areas, but you’ll learn better from doing a bit of the research yourself!

One last thing; I’m sure you know this, but it has to be said! Never distribute your seed bombs on private property or protected parks. Stick to civic spaces that have long since been neglected or local public areas that could use a bit of rewilding.

What plants are best for seed bombs?

We’ve talked a lot about wildflowers, but did you know that you can also use edible plants such as lettuce, sage, basil, cilantro and even tomato seeds in your seed bomb DIY? I personally used meadow flowers in my mix including black eyed susan, cornflower, marigold, Californian poppies, cosmos and bachelor button. I think using edible flowers and herbs would be so fun - imagine taking your morning walk through the neighborhood and seeing little patches of lettuce and calendula free for the taking for your afternoon snack! I dream of a day when our wild spaces are full of edible free food to share with our communities.

How to make seed bombs step by step

Supplies

• Newspaper/paper scraps

• Wildflower seeds

• Bowl

• Water

• Parchment paper

• Baking sheet/plate

• OPTIONAL: clay, compost, topsoil

Instructions:

Making seed bombs is simple. Shred your paper into small pieces and soak in water, or soak whole pieces and then blend in a food processor. Combine your shredded paper with seeds (and compost/clay/topsoil if you’d like) in a bowl. Form into golf ball sized globes and squeeze tightly to compress and remove excess moisture. Place on your parchment paper on the baking sheet or just use a plate and allow to dry for 24 hours before using. You can even place them into a small drawstring bag and give them out as Earth Day gifts to friends and family!

How do you use seed bombs?

Seed bombs are one of my favorite nature craft ideas, because they are simple, fast and easy for anyone to do and the result is a more beautiful planet. Since the seeds do not need to be buried to grow, you can just toss your seed bombs into empty and neglected areas, watch and wait and in a few months you should have some beautiful flowers growing! The patch will likely self-seed and continue to develop and grow with each passing year that goes by.

If you’re looking for nature walk activities to do this Earth Day, I hope you’ll give this seed bomb DIY a try and bring them along with you on your adventure. And remember: every day should be Earth Day, so if you’re reading this and it’s already come and gone, don’t let that stop you from giving it a try and bringing some beauty to our one and only home!

Make This Safe Oil Lamp With a Mason Jar and Olive Oil [Tutorial]

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While the days may be slowly but surely lengthening, we are still very much in the winter season here in New England. February’s of my childhood often are filled with dim memories of snow storms and subsequent power outages, leading to inevitable candlelight dinners cooked over the fireplace. The warmth and flicker of the various fires we had lit both small and large reign in my recollection of those times. I can still smell the matches burning off after being extinguished, the light smoke wafting through the air to settle on clothing and blankets. Despite the bitter weather outside and the temporary lack of electricity, we were never cold. We had hats, sweaters, blankets, and each other.

Nowadays like many others in this community I find solace in the light of a candle. The eternal dance of flame is grounding and comforting, a reassuring hand when things feel like they may never warm back up again. I’ve experimented with candle making of all kinds - dipped beeswax tapers, pillars and hand poured jars of soy wax to name a few. So it was about time to try my hand at perhaps the easiest DIY flame source you can create - the DIY mason jar oil lamp.

Olive oil lamps are ubiquitous at archaeological sites across the Mediterranean region. Unsurprisingly, the most common oil used in the Mediterranean region was olive oil. In 2022, a 2300 year old olive oil lamp was unearthed in the West Bank. Clay lamps that used oil as a fuel source appeared during the Bronze Age around the 16th century BC and were ubiquitous throughout the Roman Empire. Thanks to all this evidence, there’s reason to believe that oil lamps appeared at the very dawn of human history. But we don’t need to go back in time to make our own DIY oil lamp. In fact, this simple mason jar craft can be made in minutes using items you may already have at home.

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How oil lamps work:

Floating wicks come in a pack with the floating portion separated from the wick. You’ll place the wick in the hole in the center of the floating disk piece with half the wick on each side of the disk. This way, when you place the wick in the oil lamp, the oil will be drawn up through the wick and be vaporized and burned by the flame.

Are oil lamps expensive?

Not at all. Since one tablespoon of oil can burn for two hours in your lamp, it is much cheaper than most candles. This is a great addition to your emergency supplies, as well as being a beautiful addition to your table. For storm prep, all you need to make sure you have is a pack of the floating wicks, some olive oil, a mason jar and water and you can keep your home safely lit without electricity during a power outage.

Are oil lamps safe?

The danger of oil lamps comes from the possibility of spilling. If the lamp were tipped over while burning, the spilled oil would all catch fire all at once on whatever surface it spilled onto. Thankfully, olive oil has a very high flash point which means it’s not super flammable. Plus, we’ll only be using a small amount of oil - the rest of the liquid in our mason jar will be water. If our DIY oil lamp tipped over, it should extinguish itself immediately. That said - it’s always important to practice fire safety around any type of open flame. Always burn within sight, keep away from pets and children and away from any flammable materials. Never move your oil lamp while still burning. I assume no responsibility for any damage that may occur due to misuse of your diy olive oil lamp.

How to make a DIY Mason Jar Olive Oil Lamp:

The options are endless when you make your own olive oil lamp, and you’ll find inspiration below for different ways to turn your lamp into beautiful mason jar decor. But let's cover the basics first!

Supplies:

• Mason jar (any size, I used a pint jar)

• Floating wicks

• Olive oil

• Water

• Decorative items to submerge in the water

Instructions:

• Fill your mason jar until there is about half an inch of empty space at the top

• Add any decorative items that you can submerge in the water - just be sure not to choose anything that will float too close to the surface and disrupt the flow of oil to the wick.

• Pour olive oil into the mason jar on top of the water until the oil layer is about a quarter inch thick

• Gently place the floating wick on top of the oil surface, light and enjoy your olive oil lamp.

Ideas for how to decorate your mason jar olive oil lamp:

Christmas mason jar olive oil lamp

Red holly berries, pinecones, cranberries, vintage ornaments and evergreen clippings are great for the holiday season. Choose materials in natural shades of green, red and brown and play with mixing different textures.

Fall mason jar olive oil lamp

Fall foliage in bright oranges, reds and yellows can be suspended in the water. Better yet, replace the mason jar with a hollowed out mini pumpkin!

Winter mason jar olive oil lamp

Birch bark from fallen branches, acorn caps, evergreen clippings and even twigs will capture the chill months of winter in a cozy fashion.

Spring mason jar olive oil lamp

Fresh crocus blooms, dandelions, tulips, eggs and apple blossom branch clippings will all celebrate the season of growth and fertility.

Summer mason jar olive oil lamp

Embrace the season of abundance with fresh herbs from the garden like mint and basil, cherry tomatoes, sunflowers, lavender, fresh fruit and berries.

Beachy mason jar olive oil lamp

Bring the beach bonfire to you with sand, seashells and seaglass (responsibly sourced if you can’t obtain them yourself of course)

Citrus mason jar olive oil lamp

Exactly what it sounds like - but no need to dump a few lemons in chaotically. Shake things up with different shapes, sizes and a variety of citrus fruits including lemons, oranges or clementines (sliced or whole) and a bit of green with sliced cucumber rounds or fresh leaves.

Floral mason jar olive oil lamp

Celebrate whatever is growing most abundantly in your flower beds at the moment and suspend your favorite cut flower in your lamp - try hydrangea, poppies, bleeding heart, sweet pea, roses, peonies or lilies. You can leave them whole, or just use the petals.

Crystal mason jar olive oil lamp

Place your favorite crystals in your oil lamp - just be sure not to use crystals that can dissolve in water - As a general rule of thumb (with some exceptions), crystals ending with “ite” tend to dissolve in water. Try crystals like Clear Quartz, Rose Quartz, Amethyst, Smokey Quartz, Citrine, Agate, Carnelian, Rutilated Quartz, Jasper, Tiger's Eye, Aventurine or Moonstone.

Mason jar decor is one of my favorite ways to update our home decor, because we always have the jars on hand and they are such a great blank slate from which you can creatively experiment with little effort. 

Now that you know how to make your own DIY mason jar light, you know the options are endless to modify and customize your lamp to your own style and personality!