Classic Book Review: How to Grow More Vegetables Than You Ever Thought Possible (etc. etc.) » Transition Culture

Classic Book Review: How to Grow More Vegetables Than You Ever Thought Possible (etc. etc.) » Transition Culture:

The cover of the latest edition

In the biointensive system, the raised beds are double dug, so as to maximise the depth of root penetration, and from that point forward, compost is only added onto the tops of the beds, which are never walked on. Most plants are started first in modules or in flat trays and then planted out into the beds on the tight spacings. This means that if you plant, say, lettuces, you may need to give a light weeding after a couple of weeks, but beyond that, they grow over and make a canopy, so there is no room for weeds to grow. Brilliant.

The successful application of the biointensive mode requires a lot of compost, but as we saw yesterday, there’s nothing wrong with that. This book goes through the key elements of making good compost, although his system of gathering all the materials and making the whole heap at once is never one I have managed to get the hang of, I tend to make them as I go, a process that takes longer, but still produces good compost at the end.

The book argues that the key aspects of biointensive food production are deep bed preparation, composting, close plant spacing, companion planting, the use of open pollinated seeds, and taking a whole system approach. The first year I had this book, I really went for it. The results were amazing. Since then, I always use this approach, albeit in a slightly adapted form (I used raised beds, close plantings, make compost, use companion planting, but tend to try and adapt them for a no-dig system). I usually start plants in modules, and I always use the spacings set out in the book, based on many years of research by Ecology Action (the organisation researching biointensive systems), first through the work of Alan Chadwick, and then Jeavons. I swear by this approach.