How to Design a Biointensive Garden

Dense, fecund biointensive gardens focus on food production.

Biointenstive gardening focuses on efficiency and sustainability, striving to achieve the maximum yield from the smallest plot possible. This “less is more” approach seeks to cut back across the board, from land, water and fertilizer usage to actual human energy expenditure. Though there is no one right way to design a biointensive garden, most biointensive gardens follow certain near-universal design principles.

Instructions

1. Select a spot near your future garden to serve as a compost pile. Choose a shady area that allows warmth without too much overdrying sun exposure and moisture without outright dampness. Allot enough space for three separate compost collecting areas -- ground space for solid organic fertilizer (such as leguminous leaves, kitchen scraps, dung, charcoal, sticks and soil), bins for liquid organic fertilizer (such as fermented urine and natural sugars) and effective microorganisms (sugar, yeast and water mixtures). Prepare the spot by loosening the soil 12 inches deep. Create a 3-inch layer of twigs, branches and prunings. Alternate layers of dry and green materials, building the pile up to about 3 feet. Cover the pile with a light layer of straw and allow the compost to sit for at least three months as you design the rest of your garden.

2. 

   Porous, moist soil lends itself to biointensive gardening.

   Choose a gardening area with loose soil structure. Biointensive gardening is a closed system, meaning this will serve as the permanent plot for your garden. Eventually, during the spring season, you must loosen all the soil in the plot down to depths of about 24 inches, so avoid hard, dry soil. Biointensive gardens use this soil-loosening “double digging” method to increase aeration and water retention.

3. Determine the size of your plot. The nonprofit biointensive activist group Ecology Action reports that the best biointensive gardens need only 3,403 square feet to grow a complete year's worth of food for one person. Most home gardens don't aim to grow quite that much food, so pare the square footage back depending on your space constraints and your desired yield. For most single-household home gardens, an area of 100 square feet will suffice (this number also makes it easy to calculate yields and fertilizer needs).

4. Maximize your plot. Each row should have enough space that the leaves of fully developed plants barely touch each other. As such, row width varies per type of crop. Plan walking paths as small as possible to maximize your space.

5. 

   Calorie-rich potatoes make good neighbors for corn, beans, lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers.

   Select your seeds. Plan to produce the richest diet in the smallest area by selecting calorie-dense veggies such as potatoes, leeks or garlic. When selecting seeds, choose “companion plants,” or plants that encourage mutual growth when their seeds are sowed close together. For instance, potatoes, lettuce and tomatoes make good neighbors, as do potatoes, beans and cucumbers. Include vegetable crops with both cool- and warm-colored flowers to attract beneficial insects such as bees and butterflies. Purchase only open-pollinated seeds, which help develop cultivars that will thrive in your particular plot. This practice preserves water, protects soil microorganisms and produces greater yields.

References

• Organic Consumers Association: Bio-Intensive Mini-Gardens – Recipe for Survival
• Green School: The 8 Major Principles of Bio-Intensive Gardening
• Village Volunteers: Biointensive Farming Training Manual

Resources

• The Center for Argoecology and Sustainable Food Systems