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  • From: "Lawrence F. London, Jr." <venaurafarm@bellsouth.net>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] How Much Land Does It Take To Become Food Self-Reliant
  • Date: Wed, 12 May 2010 07:31:41 -0400

Richard Archer wrote:
At 8:55 PM +1000 12/5/10, Benny H wrote:

Is this an advertisement for BioIntensive?

No, it's spam advertising the DVD "Food Production Systems
for a Backyard or Small Farm".

I actually had this DVD on my list of things to buy, but
now I've been spammed on multiple lists I think I'll give
my money to Geoff Lawton instead.

Spammed? Spamming with an ad for his products is the last thing one would expect from Jeavons or Bountiful Gardens. He is an institution. His circle gardening concept has been used widely around the world. Have a look at his books.

> The research to the answer to that question was started back in the
70's
> by a very forward thinking man named John Jeavons. The work has
> continued since then and a method developed into a system called
> "Bio-Intensive Gardening". The Bio-Intensive method has been
> implemented worldwide to alleviate hunger and malnutrition. There is a
> wealth of detail in the entire Bio-intensive method, but the short
> answer to how much land you need can be summarized as approximately
> 8,000 sq.ft. for a complete diet for one person (you need 4,000 sq/ft.
> of actual growing space and at least 4,000 sq.ft. for pathways and
> access). That is also assuming you have four growing seasons per year.
> So if you can only get two growing seasons, then you need to double the
> space needed per person. For reference, an acre is 43,560 sq.ft. So in
> a more southern climate, you could theoretically support about 5 people
> per acre.
>
> The absolute best reference for the Bio-Intensive method is the book
> /How To Grow More Vegetables Than You Ever Thought Possible On Less Land
> Than You Can Imagined /by John Jeavons. And for another comparison,
> with data taken from Jeavons book, the average U.S. diet with
> conventional farming requires 15,000 to 30,0000 sq.ft. and is done in
> such a way that it diminishes soil -- i.e. it is not sustainable.

I don't know about any DVD but his books are some of the very best ever written, on par with Mollison's. Jeavons was instumental in stewarding the emerging organic food production movement in the US and elsewhere.
Using the right tools and double digging to turn marginal land into productive garden space.




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