Biointensive mini-farming: grow more food in less space

With just one-tenth of an acre of space, it's possible to grow your entire diet, claims a Northern California gardening research group. Back in the 1970s, Ecology Action and group founder John Jeavons outlined a system called Grow Biointensive.

Biointensive agriculture isn't a new way to garden, but instead, it relies on principles used by ancient Greek, Roman, and Chinese. It focuses on teaching individuals- not large-scale farmers- to enrich their soil so that they can grow their own food close to population centers.

Outlined in Jeavon's book "How to Grow More Vegetables: Than You Ever Thought Possible on Less Land Than You Can Imagine", Grow Biointensive uses 8 principles: compost application, deep soil preparation, intensive plant spacing, companion planting, carbon farming, calorie farming, open-pollinated seeds, and farming as a whole system.

Biointensive mini-farming techniques, according to those at Ecology Action, make it possible to "produce 2 to 6 times more food, build the soil up to 60 times faster than in nature, if properly used reduce by half or more the amount of land needed."

In this video, we visited the Grow Biointensive demonstration garden in Palo Alto (run by the organic garden center Common Ground) where Robin Mankey shows us strategies for calorie farming like double digging and planting 60% carbon, or compost crops to maintain soil fertility and talks about how if we want to grow our own, we'll likely have to change our palate (think amaranth, quinoa, buckwheat, and sorghum).

[crk]

I've trained Grow Biointensive years ago, but most of my hired projects since wanted part of the approach or other techniques. It is a SYSTEM that shows best its potential when it is FULLY respected rather than substituted. After 15 plus years I finally had soil to use at my disposal for a 3 year period of time. My hosts were stunned at what could be accomplished. I don't mind quinoa/black bean burgers or wonderberry pie. 1/10th of an acre could indeed do it in Michigan. Thanks Kirsten!!!

[DixieGirl]

So wonderful to see more and more people concerned and interested in growing the natural way.

[crk]

Wow... this is the most concise explanation I've ever heard.  Well done.  GBI is among few, perhaps only, *university and peer researched sustainable growing methods that shows promise in rebuilding our diminishing soil reserves, using a fraction of the water and purchased fertilizers standard practices use while providing a complete diet.  The land reduction leaves enough potential space that both nature and man could thrive.  [* Cornell, University of Arizona, UCLA].

[Malegnius]

I absolutely love her garden. Those plants look incredibly healthy AND neat haha.

[dorwssapon]

This was (is) a great book illustrating a proven method of gardening. From lunar phase seed planting to rotation to calorie information. Good book.  

[rlpittman]

I have always been an advocate of the biodynamic - french intensive method. (IE Grow Biointensive) It builds soil and organic matter which increases your crop harvest, while increasing your microbial population. I want to add techniques such as Regenertive Agriculture, Korean Natural Farming, and Jadam Organic farming. I want to try biochar also.

[itsnotthesamething]

Either aquaponics or back to eden gardening. I haven't seen anything else that impressed me quite as much as these. 

[Dave]

Claudine - I agree with the use of compost and wood chips on top. This way it gets better every year. I have had good success with this "no tilling" method as I learned in "Back to Eden" dvd.

[machinga]

so nice to realise its significance..definately i would wish that people of my country also employ the same principle to maximize the yield and save the land from touching...need more support anyway..

[JetSetFork]

So inspiring! I didn't know about the double dig method, as I have only had experience with raised bed gardening

[Cho]

Well, my father cleaned out the gutters in the barn then stacked the dung along with whatever straw and other organic matter accumulated in a big pile in back of the barn. It usually sat back there for a year or more. When it came time to plow under the garden from the current year, he'd scoop a load of dung from the oldest part of the pile and spread it on top of the plowed garden.

[MarySanchez-qkhp]

If you grew inoculated legume vines in your corn patch, they'd nitrogenate the soil for your corn, and the corn stalks would be used by the legumes to climb on. And if you plant squash, it would shade the soil and regulate evaporation. The Three Sisters, rather than intensive monoculture. Planting corn so close together makes it easier to get air-pollinated, which is good. I hope you'll consider putting up some solitary bee houses, to help pollination and help wild bees. Insects are as important as the plants and the water.

[busker]

It's a limited diet. Yes, limited to F O O D !
I started eating correctly two years ago. I am so encouraged that I am currently growing virtually all my normal diet. All that is left is to set up barter with someone whose farming includes a cow. (I love berries and cream...LOL) You are so right about how much can be done! And, you are also so right that it is a miracle. God created the world to work naturally in ways that do, in fact, appear miraculous. One seed creates a plant with a fruit that has thousands. That is awesome! What a totally loving creator, eh?

[theuglykwan]

For those that are less ambitious, you can grow all your vegetable needs on just a few beds with the right crops. I wasn't ambitious enough to grow my carb needs as those are so cheap and I lacked space.

[Cho]

The best fertilizer for the soil is the dung of animals like cows, pigs, sheep, and horses. When I was growing up on the farm, my dad called it "farmer's gold."

Nothing more delicious that tomatoes grown in a garden well fertilized with aged cow manure.

Delicious.

[dannyrosenberg]

Hi Kirsten, As a gardener who has the same values as you when it comes to nurturing the soil, i really recommend you watch the documentary "back to eden". digging (especially double digging) does not nurture the soil. it disrupts the microbial activity, kills worms and releases the nitrogen. please watch back to eden.

[shaneeyvonne]

Unfortunately, this area has been sitting dormant for 2-3 years now. The church that owns the property wouldn’t even allow me to use the greenhouse. No one is working on this site anymore.

[Cho]

He'd let it sit a day or two and then cultivate and disc the field, turning the soil over the top of the dung layer. Then it would rest over the winter. In the spring the garden which was about half an acre in size would be plowed and disked up again. This made the soil soft and easy to work with. The veggies grew lavishly in that situation.

[mdssdp]

No offence but in my experience manipulating the soil in any way makes growing your food far more labor intensive. tilling and digging is like a drug, once you stars it is hard to stop so why start in the first place. It forces you to use large amounts of water. if you simply mulch and keep a ground cover to slow evaporation you can save yourself a lot of work. But than again if you are farming for exercise it would be very beneficial.

[vivienrhodes]

Yes in UK it's Allotment gardening to and it's very popular