Biointensive
Encyclopedia
The biointensive method is an organic
agricultural
system
which focuses on maximum yields
from the minimum area of land, while simultaneously improving the soil
. The goal of the method is long term sustainability
on a closed system
basis. It has also been used successfully on small scale commercial farms.
, Greeks
, Mayan
s, and of the Early Modern period in Europe. Alan Chadwick
brought together the Biodynamic
and French intensive methods, as well as his own unique approach, to form what he called the Biodynamic-French Intensive method. The method was further developed by John Jeavons and Ecology Action into a sustainable 8-step food-raising method known as "GROW BIOINTENSIVE." The method now enjoys widespread practice and development. The Southside Community Land Trust
located in Providence, Rhode Island, uses the biointensive method to produce food on its city farm
. This technique is preferable because it yields large amounts of food for both local sale and donation.
Because some of these techniques result in intensive productivity, the system must be practiced as a whole in order to prevent soil exhaustion. Although the goal of the biointensive method is sustainability, if the techniques concerning productivity are practiced without the techniques concerning sustainable fertility, the fertility of the soil may be used up even more quickly than with normal unsustainable methods. The most important element for sustainable fertility is the growing of sixty percent compost crops, composting, and when possible safe and legal human waste recycling.
Organic farming
Organic farming is the form of agriculture that relies on techniques such as crop rotation, green manure, compost and biological pest control to maintain soil productivity and control pests on a farm...
agricultural
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
system
System
System is a set of interacting or interdependent components forming an integrated whole....
which focuses on maximum yields
Crop yield
In agriculture, crop yield is not only a measure of the yield of cereal per unit area of land under cultivation, yield is also the seed generation of the plant itself...
from the minimum area of land, while simultaneously improving the soil
Soil
Soil is a natural body consisting of layers of mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics...
. The goal of the method is long term sustainability
Sustainability
Sustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...
on a closed system
Closed system
-In physics:In thermodynamics, a closed system can exchange energy , but not matter, with its surroundings.In contrast, an isolated system cannot exchange any of heat, work, or matter with the surroundings, while an open system can exchange all of heat, work and matter.For a simple system, with...
basis. It has also been used successfully on small scale commercial farms.
History
Many of the techniques that comprise the biointensive method were present in the agriculture of the ancient ChineseChina
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Greeks
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
, Mayan
Maya civilization
The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Pre-Classic period The Maya is a Mesoamerican...
s, and of the Early Modern period in Europe. Alan Chadwick
Alan Chadwick
Alan Chadwick , English master gardener, was a leading innovator of organic farming techniques and influential educator in the field of biodynamic/French intensive gardening. He was a student of Rudolf Steiner, and is often cited as inspirational to the development of the "California Cuisine"...
brought together the Biodynamic
Biodynamic agriculture
Biodynamic agriculture is a method of organic farming that emphasizes the holistic development and interrelationships of the soil, plants and animals as a self-sustaining system. Biodynamic farming has much in common with other organic approaches, such as emphasizing the use of manures and composts...
and French intensive methods, as well as his own unique approach, to form what he called the Biodynamic-French Intensive method. The method was further developed by John Jeavons and Ecology Action into a sustainable 8-step food-raising method known as "GROW BIOINTENSIVE." The method now enjoys widespread practice and development. The Southside Community Land Trust
Southside Community Land Trust
Southside Community Land Trust is a 501 non-profit organization located in Providence, Rhode Island with a mission to provide access to land, education and other resources necessary for people in the Greater Providence area to grow food in environmentally sustainable ways as a means to creating a...
located in Providence, Rhode Island, uses the biointensive method to produce food on its city farm
Urban agriculture
Urban agriculture is the practice of cultivating, processing and distributing food in, or around, a village, town or city. Urban agriculture in addition can also involve animal husbandry, aquaculture, agro-forestry and horticulture...
. This technique is preferable because it yields large amounts of food for both local sale and donation.
The system
In order to achieve greater productivity, the biointensive method uses double dug raised beds, intensive planting, and companion planting.- In double diggingDouble diggingDouble digging is a gardening technique used to increase soil drainage and aeration. It involves the loosening of two layers of soil, and the addition of organic matter....
, a 12 inch (305 mm) deep trench is dug across the width of the bed with a flat spadeSpadeA spade is a tool designed primarily for the purpose of digging or removing earth. Early spades were made of riven wood. After the art of metalworking was discovered, spades were made with sharper tips of metal. Before the advent of metal spades manual labor was less efficient at moving earth,...
, and the soil from that first trench is set aside. The 12 inches (305 mm) below the trench are loosened with a spading fork. When the next trench is dug, that soil is dropped into the empty space of the first trench, and the lower layer is again loosened with a spading fork. This process is repeated along the full length of the bed. The final trench is filled with the soil that was removed from the first trench. The result is a bed that has been tilled to a depth of 24 inches (610 mm). When an entire bed has been double dug, the soil will have greater drainageDrainageDrainage is the natural or artificial removal of surface and sub-surface water from an area. Many agricultural soils need drainage to improve production or to manage water supplies.-Early history:...
and aeration, which allows the rootRootIn vascular plants, the root is the organ of a plant that typically lies below the surface of the soil. This is not always the case, however, since a root can also be aerial or aerating . Furthermore, a stem normally occurring below ground is not exceptional either...
s to grow much deeper and reach more nutrients. Despite the fact that no soil has been added, the bed is raised due to the aeration. It is worth noting that hard, unworked soil should be double dug each season until the soil has attained good structure and long lasting aeration. During subsequent seasons, it can be single dug with a spading fork until compaction again becomes apparent. After double digging the first season, deep tilling during subsequent seasons can be quickly accomplished with a u-bar, particularly in the cases of larger minifarms or commercial farms.
- To plant intensively, beds are 4 to 6 feet (1.2 to 1.8 m) wide, usually 5 ft (1.5 m) and at least 5 feet (1.5 m) long, often 20 feet (6 m), forming a bed of 100 square feet (10 m²). Crops are not planted in traditional rows according to a square pattern, but are planted in a hexagonal or triangular pattern in the bed so that no space is left unnecessarily unused. These wide beds and close spacings not only allow more plants per area, but also enable the plants to form a living mulchMulchIn agriculture and gardening, is a protective cover placed over the soil to retain moisture, reduce erosion, provide nutrients, and suppress weed growth and seed germination. Mulching in gardens and landscaping mimics the leaf cover that is found on forest floors....
over the soil, keeping in moisture and shading out weeds. Additionally, whenever possible seedlings are started in flats so that more garden space is available to large plants and so that the seedlings can be more closely spaced before transplant, forming a living mulch in the flat as well.
- Companion planting is described as taking place both in space, which is traditionally called companion plantingCompanion plantingCompanion planting is the planting of different crops in proximity , on the theory that they assist each other in nutrient uptake, pest control, pollination, and other factors necessary to increasing crop productivity...
, and in time, which is traditionally called crop rotationCrop rotationCrop rotation is the practice of growing a series of dissimilar types of crops in the same area in sequential seasons.Crop rotation confers various benefits to the soil. A traditional element of crop rotation is the replenishment of nitrogen through the use of green manure in sequence with cereals...
. Companion planting can be used to improve the health and growth of crops, and also as another form of intensive planting, which uses vertical space more efficiently by mixing shallow rooting plants with deep rooting plants or slow growing plants with fast growing plants.
- In order to achieve sustainable fertilityFertilityFertility is the natural capability of producing offsprings. As a measure, "fertility rate" is the number of children born per couple, person or population. Fertility differs from fecundity, which is defined as the potential for reproduction...
on a closed system basis, the biointensive method uses carbon and calorie farming, an aikido-style of work, composting—including safe and legal human waste recycling, the use of open pollinatedOpen pollinationOpen pollination is pollination by insects, birds, wind, or other natural mechanisms, and contrasts with cleistogamy, closed pollination, which is one of the many types of self pollination...
seeds, and limited land use, which allows farmers and gardeners to retain more of the land in a wild state for genetic diversity.
- If carbonCarbonCarbon is the chemical element with symbol C and atomic number 6. As a member of group 14 on the periodic table, it is nonmetallic and tetravalent—making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds...
or compost crops are grown in about sixty percent of the cultivated land, they can provide the compost and thus the fertility for one hundred percent of the cultivated land. Many cerealCerealCereals are grasses cultivated for the edible components of their grain , composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran...
crops qualify as compost crops, providing both food and abundant compost. Additionally some of these compost crops may be grown during the winter, when the land would be otherwise unused. Certain compost crops are higher in carbon while others are higher in nitrogenNitrogenNitrogen is a chemical element that has the symbol N, atomic number of 7 and atomic mass 14.00674 u. Elemental nitrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, and mostly inert diatomic gas at standard conditions, constituting 78.08% by volume of Earth's atmosphere...
, and the desired proportion of each must be grown. Also, certain compost crops take particular desired nutrients from the subsoilSubsoilSubsoil, or substrata, is the layer of soil under the topsoil on the surface of the ground. The subsoil may include substances such as clay and/or sand that has only been partially broken down by air, sunlight, water, wind etc., to produce true soil...
and concentrate them in the compost. This proportion of 60 % compost crops is crucial to the sustainability that is the goal of the biointensive method, and to the fertility of one's garden.
- In calorieCalorieThe calorie is a pre-SI metric unit of energy. It was first defined by Nicolas Clément in 1824 as a unit of heat, entering French and English dictionaries between 1841 and 1867. In most fields its use is archaic, having been replaced by the SI unit of energy, the joule...
farming, care is given to growing enough food energy (and other nutrients) to live on in a minimal area. Root crops also allow biointensive farmers and gardeners to grow more nutrients in smaller areas, resulting in less labor and more space for wilderness and other people. These crops—which have both a high calorie content per pound, and a high yield per area—include potatoes, sweet potatoes, garlicGarlicAllium sativum, commonly known as garlic, is a species in the onion genus, Allium. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, and rakkyo. Dating back over 6,000 years, garlic is native to central Asia, and has long been a staple in the Mediterranean region, as well as a frequent...
, leeks, burdockBurdockBurdock is any of a group of biennial thistles in the genus Arctium, family Asteraceae. Native to the Old World, several species have been widely introduced worldwide....
, and parsnipParsnipThe parsnip is a root vegetable related to the carrot. Parsnips resemble carrots, but are paler than most carrots and have a sweeter taste, especially when cooked. The buttery, slightly spicy, sweet flavor of cooked mature parsnips is reminiscent of butterscotch, honey, and subtle cardamom...
s. About 30 % of the land cultivated for food is used for root crops.
- Composting allows the plants to transform and enrich the soil with organic matter, and also to return nutrients to the soil. Biointensive composting is fairly straightforward, emphasizing the health and diversity of the microbes that break down and become a part of the compost. Thus, relatively cooler composting is practiced, and plant materials are preferred over animal materials. Soil is often combined with the compost to inoculate the pile with microbes. Without human waste recycling, however, nutrients and organic matter are constantly removed from the soil and flushed away. Therefore, when safe and legal human waste recycling is possible--as in many places it already is--that fertility can be returned to the soil. A great unappreciated source of compost and soil improvement is the roots of crops themselves, which are left to decompose in the soil, and help to both fertilize and sew it together. Thus crops such as cereal rye and alfalfa, which have exceptionally deep roots, are valued.
- The use of open pollinatedOpen pollinationOpen pollination is pollination by insects, birds, wind, or other natural mechanisms, and contrasts with cleistogamy, closed pollination, which is one of the many types of self pollination...
seeds ensures genetic diversity, and allows the farmer to be self sufficient, harvesting seeds from his or her own plants, and cultivating varieties which are best suited to that particular region.
- Retaining half the land in a wild state also allows for genetic diversity.
Because some of these techniques result in intensive productivity, the system must be practiced as a whole in order to prevent soil exhaustion. Although the goal of the biointensive method is sustainability, if the techniques concerning productivity are practiced without the techniques concerning sustainable fertility, the fertility of the soil may be used up even more quickly than with normal unsustainable methods. The most important element for sustainable fertility is the growing of sixty percent compost crops, composting, and when possible safe and legal human waste recycling.
Animals
The biointensive method typically concentrates on the vegan diet. This does not, however, mean that biointensive excludes the raising of animals. Animals can be incorporated into biointensive systems for nutrient cycling and/or to provide animal products for human consumption. For instance, land that is not suitable for growing vegetable crops intensively (such as steep slopes, hedgerows, or areas of low soil fertility) can be used to grow fodder for animals kept in enclosures. Animal excrement can then be used to fertilize crops.Further reading
- John Jeavons, How to Grow More Vegetables: And Fruits, Nuts, Berries, Grains, and Other Crops Than You Ever Thought Possible on Less Land Than You Can Imagine ISBN 1-58008-233-5
- Carol Cox, John Jeavons, The Sustainable Vegetable Garden: A Backyard Guide to Healthy Soil and Higher Yields ISBN 1-58008-016-2
See also
- Biodynamic agricultureBiodynamic agricultureBiodynamic agriculture is a method of organic farming that emphasizes the holistic development and interrelationships of the soil, plants and animals as a self-sustaining system. Biodynamic farming has much in common with other organic approaches, such as emphasizing the use of manures and composts...
- Organic farmingOrganic farmingOrganic farming is the form of agriculture that relies on techniques such as crop rotation, green manure, compost and biological pest control to maintain soil productivity and control pests on a farm...
- PermaculturePermaculturePermaculture is an approach to designing human settlements and agricultural systems that is modeled on the relationships found in nature. It is based on the ecology of how things interrelate rather than on the strictly biological concerns that form the foundation of modern agriculture...
- Sustainable agricultureSustainable agricultureSustainable agriculture is the practice of farming using principles of ecology, the study of relationships between organisms and their environment...