Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["TradingPostPaul" <tradingpost@riseup.net>]

ssue # 61 - January/February 1980
http://www.motherearthnews.com/organic_gardening/1980_January_February/Biody
namic_French_Intensive_Gardening

Whether the problem is feeding a hungry world or simply increasing the
productivity of a small backyard garden, the solution might well be ...
BIODYNAMIC/FRENCH INTENSIVE GARDENING

 Back in 1966 Alan Chadwick—an English actor, painter, pianist, and
master horticulturist— was offered a chance to demonstrate the techniques
of biodynamic/French intensive gardening on a barren four-acre clay
hillside at the University of California's Santa Cruz campus. Chadwick
tackled the little "desert" (land that was so inhospitable that few weeds
even grew there) with hand tools, a love for the garden that he knew the
plot could become, and incredible energy. Before long the once dead-looking
slope was a veritable paradise of vegetables and flowers ... and a beacon
that attracted students and followers.

Since then, biodynamic/French intensive gardening (often referred to as
"the method") has slowly gained a reputation among organic gardeners in
North America ... largely through the efforts of Chadwick and John Jeavons
(of Ecology Action of the Mid-Peninsula in Stanford, California). It was
Jeavons who eventually took the technique—which Chadwick had synthesized
from the intensive gardening practiced in turn-of-the-century France and
the biodynamic theories developed by Rudolf Steiner in early
twentieth-century Austria—and subjected it to careful modification and
testing ... always striving to produce the optimum yield from the smallest
possible space.

And John's harvests have been little short of amazing! His per-acre
"method" crop production has, for example, climbed to between four and six
times that of the average U.S. yield (while, in rare cases, the
biodynamic/French intensive gardens have produced as much as 31 times the
national crop average for a given amount of space!). In fact, Jeavons has
gone so far as to estimate that it would be possible for an urban,
suburban, or rural gardener to net as much as $10,000 a year from the
produce that he or she could grow on a scant 1/10 acre!

Furthermore, as if such incredible results weren't enough to recommend this
revolutionary gardening technique, the biodynamic/French intensive system
uses no polluting, fuel—demanding tools ... no toxic pesticides ... and
no highly processed chemical fertilizers. In fact, the technique actually
improves the quality of the soil with each crop that's grown! And it does
so while using only 1/100 as much energy and 1/8 as much water as does
commercial agriculture.
HOW IS IT DONE?

All the different facets of "the method" serve to allow the gardener to
produce as many healthy plants as possible on a given piece of land. The
raised beds that are characteristic of such gardens, for instance, serve
several purposes.

First, since the growing areas are wider than are "normal" garden rows
(approximately five feet ... in order to allow the gardener to each plants
in the middle without stepping on, and compacting, the soil in the bed),
less space must be wasted on walkways. The rectangular beds are raised from
four to 10-inches above the original ground level, too, and their edges are
angled down at a 45* slope ... effectively providing more (curved) surface
area than if the same piece of ground were left flat.

Most important of all, though, the beds are "double dug" to a depth of two
feet (see the accompanying photos for step-by-step digging instructions).
Because of the resulting deep "cushion" of well-worked soil, plants can
more easily send their tiny root hairs down to gather in the water and
nutrition (supplied by compost, ashes, bone meal, and other such organic
plant foods) that are necessary to healthy, insect-resistant, nutritious,
delicious vegetables.

The arrangement of the plants on the bed is a bit unusual, too ... at least
to anyone accustomed to more common gardening techniques. The seeds (or
flat-started plants) are placed in such a way that the foliage of each
mature vegetable will just barely touch that of all its neighbors ...
creating a leafy cover (known as "living mulch") which keeps weeds down,
helps to moderate the swings of soil temperature, and improves the bed's
ability to retain water. And, of course, such "close quarters" planting is
another reason for the gardening technique's incredible yields.

It's difficult to give a rule of thumb for plant placement in a biodynamic/
French intensive bed. Actually, the spacings recommended on seed packets
will often work out fine, since the heartier "method" —grown adult plants
tend to spread farther than do their conventionally raised cousins. It's
best to simply estimate the diameter of the adult vegetable's "leaf ball"
and use that figure to mark the distance between your plants.

Of course, a technique that can enable an average homeowner to raise a cash
crop in a small back yard involves more than merely digging deep beds and
planting vegetables close together. Further preparation of the soil
includes [1] the use of a specially prepared (for at least three months)
compost consisting of —by weight-1/3 dry vegetation, 1/3 wet vegetation
or kitchen scraps (you can include bones but not meat), and 1/3 earth ...
[2] an organic fertilization program that's specifically designed to meet
the needs of each crop ... and [3] daily light waterings with special hose
nozzles and cans that simulate the gentle fall of rain. (For more
information on the specifics of these and other aspects of
biodynamic/French intensive gardening, consult one of the volumes listed in
the accompanying sidebar.)
COMPANION PLANTING IN TIME AND SPACE

The way in which the growing space is used is at least as important to
success. ful "method" gardening as is the preparation of the soil.
Vegetable types are grouped together—in single beds or, if the garden is
a large one, in groups of adjoining beds— according to compatibility.

Intensive gardeners believe that different plants — especially when grown
in close proximity—affect each other in a number of ways. The vegetables
must, for example, be placed with a regard for simple physical
compatibility ... that is, a slow-growing variety shouldn't be planted
where it will soon be overshadowed by a rapidly maturing plant.

But companion planting goes far beyond such commonsense dictums. Certain
vegetables, flowers, and herbs—as many of you already know—are actually
mutually beneficial when grown together ... helping eliminate each other's
insect pests, and ever, influencing the quality of each other's products!
(Potatoes, as an example, can—when planted near beans—be very helpful
in controlling the .Mexican bean beetle ... while bibb lettuce will taste
better if it's grown in companionship with spinach!) Most of the volumes
listed in the sidebar contain detailed companion planting advice ... as
does the article, "Companion Planting", on page 34 of MOTHER NO. 33.

In order to make the most efficient use of both garden space and growing
season, "method" gardeners also practice succession planting ... which is a
kind of companion planting in time, or a smallscale, intensive form of crop
rotation. This practice, of course, allows the grower's plot to yield the
greatest possible amount of produce.

More important, however, is the fact that succession planting—as
practiced by biodynamic/French intensive gardeners—alternates plants that
are "heavy feeders" (those that take large amounts of nutrient from the
soil) with varieties that are "heavy givers" . . . and thus the productive
technique also helps the gardener return more nutrition to the soil than he
or she has taken out!
NOWS THE TIME TO BEGIN

Right now—while the snow is level with the windowsill and the chilled
trees squeal in the slightest breeze—is the best time to begin planning a
spring "method" garden. Your first plot needn't be a big project, either.
In his book on the subject, John Jeavons presents a complete plan for a
sample 100-square-foot bed—a plot only 5 feet wide by 20 feet
long—which, he claims, will be enough space for an accomplished gardener
to produce a full year's supply of vegetables for one person.

And, come springtime, you car simply smile knowingly when your gardening
friends question your sanity for working the earth two feet deep with hand
tools. Because—once the crops start coming, and coming, and coming in ...
you can explain that there's a "method" to your madness!
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW

You'd be hard pressed to find any better sources of information about
intensive gardening than the following books.

1. How to Grow More Vegetables by John Jeavons (Ten Speed Press, Berkeley,
California, 1979), $5.95. This is the book on the practical application of
the biodynamic/French intensive method.

2. Success With Small Food Gar dens Using Special intensive Methods by
Louise Riotte (Garden Way, Charlotte, Vermont, 1977), $5.95. A very good
source of information. Ms. Riotte also stresses the idea of landscaping
your yard with shaped intensive beds.

3. The Postage Stamp Garden Book by Duane Newcomb (J.P. Tarcher, Inc., Los
Angeles, California, 1975), $4.95. Mr. Newcomb presents a number of
techniques borrowed from biodynamic/French intensive gardening and other
organic growing methods. The book includes a detailed, alphabetical,
plant-by-plant information guide.

4. Intensive Culture of Vegetables by P. Aquatias (Solar Survival Press,
Harrisville, New Hampshire), $5.95. This reprint of a classic 1913 volume
on the original French intensive system has been reissued by Leandre and
Gretchen Poisson—of Solar Survival, Inc.—who are this country's
foremost proponents of the traditional French method.

All of the above volumes are available in many bookstores and libraries ...
or for the list prices—plus 95c (three or more books: $2,00) shipping and
handling—from Mother's Bookshelf, P.O. Box 70, Hendersonville, North
Carolina 28739. Copies of MOTHER NO. 33, which contains the companion
planting article, can be ordered for $3.00 each—plus $1.00 shipping and
handling—from THE MOTHER EARTH NEWS, P.O. Box 70, Hendersonville, North
Carolina 28739.