Mockturtle, I have done what you are proposing (if I understand your post correctly), in garden beds (in ground) and in large tubs (75L or so capacity), in order to deal with our seemingly perpetual drought and the water restrictions. Sometimes the only water available for the garden is water collected in the house while waiting for the hot water to come through, so I need to make sure it gets where it's needed. I've used plastic bottles and make a lot of holes with a heavy darning needle around the bottom third, then I buried the bottles with the neck sticking just above the mulch (keep the lid on when not watering if you want to stop snails from moving in or mulch/soil falling in. I would water about twice a week, or as needed. Obviously this would be a pain to do on a large scale. On a small scale it worked for me very well. The spacing of the containers depends on the plant's water needs - tender veggies vs mediterranean herbs, for example. And of course newly planted seedlings/seeds need different treatment! As far as the rate of flow from the container to the soil, it will obviously be way faster than an olla! It will depend partly on hole size and number, and over time I found it slowed a bit as dirt clogged some of the holes. A fast rate is not necessarily a problem, unless your soil is super-sandy. Provided there is organic matter there to hold onto the water and keep it in general the vicinity of the plants, I don't think it matters whether the water is released over 5 minutes or over a few hours. In fact, although I still use this method in the large pots, I have modified it for the current garden that I have - For the in-ground beds I have cut the bottom out of my plastic bottles and use them basically like a short pipe going through the mulch and into the soil. This type of subsurface watering works perfectly for me. I have a clay soil which I am progressively amending with organic matter, so I'm not worried about excessive drainage. For me the buried container was simply a convenient delivery system for the water, and also a handy way of knowing exactly how much water I was giving at each watering. Carrying water to 3 raised beds twice a week or so wouldn't be too much work for me, but then all my watering is manual because of water restrictions and the fact that I don't own the property and don't want to invest in an irrigation system that might not be appropriate for the next location. YMMV

I got big empty icing buckets from Winn Dixie's bakery department and use them as rain barrel or use them to store the vegetables washed water. I cut the hole in the milk bottle to get water from the icing buckets and water the vegetables or plants.

I'm another one who avoids plastics in the house. There are plenty of studies that have demonstrated that there are plasticizers and other chemicals in plastics that disrupt our endocrine systems. Plastic -- even plastics in other non-food related items -- are breaking down and producing dust that can enter your body through the air. There's plenty of science to back it up. I'm not crazed about it -- I just do my best to avoid it. If I have the choice between a product made of natural cotton or wool, I choose that. I have filtered taps at home so if I need drinking water I get it that way. I also use glass to microwave in. You don't even have to use plastic baggies -- there's a great brand of brown wax paper baggies called Natural Value brand. I use them for the kids' lunches. They don't cost more than zip locks. I don't feel like I make a big deal of any of this, as I go through my routines I just opt as much as possible for simpler, less-toxic products. As for plastic, I'm in the same camp with those who think that our bodies simply haven't caught up to the chemicals and materials the modern age has given us. Plus, out of something like 80,000 chemicals -- including those used in plastics, human safety studies have been done only something like a hundred. There's not much oversight at all, even though there is some attempt in legislation coming up to rewrite the toxic substances law from 1976. For this reason, I guess we all have to make decisions on our own about these things. My mother died young of cancer and I believe there were environmental reasons.

Terrific, Omar - TY! The second tuteur DH built will be the perfect spot. I'm still getting the neighbor's P. incarnata Incense runners popping up on my side of the fence -- one right beneath my thryallis, so I may need to pull that one before it overtakes the thryallis. I'm laughing at myself with all those P. Incense stems I have rooting right now, as it's becoming apparent I'll have plenty (too many?!) from the neighbor's invasion in the backyard bed alone. I spy a ton of small nibble holes in the P. incarnata leaves, so the gulf frits are alive and well -- winter diners, indeed!