advantages and disadvantages of bio intensive gardening

Like many things in life, the initial picture doesnt give you the whole story. Using a variety of crop species rather than cultivating a single crop improves biodiversity and agricultural productivity. Intensive gardening coupled with drip irrigation and shade cloth gives me far better utilization of my land. However, it is particularly well suited to growing vegetables. If its not broke dont fix it. One day Hubby asked, Why do you do that? Ive used varying combinations of Mel Bartholomews Square Foot Gardening and John Jeavons methods from Grow More Vegetables in my intensive beds and have had quite good success. The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, for instance, estimates that only 11% (1.4 billion hectares) of the world's land surface is used for crop production. This is not that big a deal with a couple of beds, but is a problem on a larger scale (see #1). Bio intensive gardening is a type of gardening that uses organic materials and focuses on creating a sustainable environment. 1. The majority of the processes are carried out on a computer rather than on farm machinery. My rows have been drying out quickly so have also just put straw on them as well. Made it 2 concrete blocks high. Its a great combination. Production has been much better than in the plot that was previously there. Blessings, Pamela. We're on a mission to support everyone in healing themselves, and our Earth, by growing their own food and medicines. If youve got a wide open patch of lawn, why not put in some widely spaced rows of beans or corn and care for the plot with a wheel hoe? Biointensive farming requires a lot less farming land in comparison to traditional forms of farming. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Since it is heavy, it also compacts the soil, which means all the double-digging that was done to prepare the soil was for naught. I have been gardening for many years and having moved to different climates over those years, Ive found there is no one gardening method that suits all. This is in line with how Mel Bartholomew describes his method. MY MAIN PROBLEM Well-drained raised beds lose LOTS of goodies out the bottom of the beds. Every year or so, good soil/compost is added to the top of the old mulch and new mulch is added on top of that. I save seed and use no purchased sprays -even organic ones. However I am getting grass growing from the seed in the straw but its very tender and comes up easily. I have a hardpan problem 8 down. True, if our system broke down and I had no fish & seaweed emulsion, I would have to think hard about what to do for fertilizer. A friend lost multiple beehives thanks to mosquito spraying. This is because vegetables are typically high-yielding crops that do not require a lot of space. Everything from square foot gardening to growing without irrigation is in there, so if youre trying to pick the perfect gardening method, I highly recommend you pick up a copy and get reading. If theres a breakdown in our complex world, wide, single-row gardening is likely to come back with a vengeance as we turn to the heavens for our rainfall, rather than a faucet. I dont know about you, but I change my gardening arrangements all the time. Therefore, this may require double digging, where you will loosen the soil in your beds up to 24 inches. Its only $2.99 for the Kindle version, and $11.99 for the paperback. The farming technique should be used cautiously when growing tomatoes as they can shade one another from the valuable sun, and they will lack enough air circulation. And yes, the paperback version is on its way. Permanent beds are commonly used in intensive gardens. If I had planted my corn at intensive garden spacing, I would have had to water a few times a week at least! The appeal of intensive gardening is undeniable, but it is not the best option. RoundUp has no place in gardening and /or agriculture. My bet is that its evolution is directly linked to our current level of civilization and high energy usage. Over the years we have had our produce tested for residues since we do farm conventionally and they have all come back clear. It will allow for larger yields for crops because the soil will be more nutrient rich. Am at a loss for words. I like to be as independant of the need to buy things as possible. You could have gone in there with a small canoe. As far as drought or lack of rainfall is concerned Ive found that chipping my raised beds has really helped. Learn how your comment data is processed. This leads to economies of scale and directly contributes towards meeting the ever-growing demand for food supplies. When I first set up my raised beds, I had access to a LOT of old, composted cow manure. Some of the crops mentioned above are rich in calories and while they provide the soil with long term fertility, they also feed. Those red birds had pull all my tomato plants up, all of them. In other words, you should have the highest possible yield while using as little resources as possible. Advertisement For example, when I was a teenager I used to have a crush on this really cute redhead, and then later, Lets just say I ended up with a better option. Hey wise latrina It Maintains Soil Fertility 4. Do cover crops as much as possible. It is an extension of growing compost. At those temperatures, I would imagine so. Can not prove the spraying done it but has never happened before. I used it as a large part of my mix in the newly constructed raised beds. With a biointensive planting method, you can put compost, usually made up of dry leaves, straw, kitchen scraps, and clippings from the yard, back into the soil by mixing it into the ground really deep. You can also pack high fertility into a small space by stacking up lots of nutrition rather than trying to spread compost over a large area like you would with a traditional garden. This year, a few weeks ago, it rained almost nonstop hard for 5 or 6 days. Raised beds almost have to be very narrow, so you can reach everything from the edge. My back never felt as good as in those years and harvest was so easy. Last year I did 2 more Huglekultur beds. This is accomplished by using techniques such as companion planting, intercropping, and composting. Yup! Any method of water harvesting is a must , regardless of gardening method, for most people and arguably all if looking at the bigger picture. These are seeds that can be naturally pollinated, by insects or wind. Intensive Farming: Intensive farming is practiced in many parts of the world either to produce crops for local. Another benefit of intensive gardening is that its usually based on permanent beds you can protect from compaction easier than you can a big row garden which requires walking between the rows in order to weed, maintain and harvest. So many people are growing so many things in smaller spaces. If I knew from one year to the next how much rain wed be getting, then in a really dry year, Id go for trad. Advantages One of the major advantages of this farming technique is that the crop yield is high. When farmers use biointensive gardening, they loosen up the soil at least twice as deep as normal gardening preparations. Excellent article, but let me add please that I do raised beds (32 inches) because of a bad knees and it saves me a lot of pain. I would appreciate a reply). These gardens do not use as much land, water, fertilizer, or human effort as other types of garden. I chronicled the garden conversion on a fledging blog. Its terrible. On a different piece of land, Id do trad. Gardening in a Drought. For a small yard and a full-time worker, raised beds suits me best. More foodless space. Another advantage is that large productivity of food is possible with less amount of land. Biointensive farming works well with open-pollinated seeds, which are seeds that can be naturally pollinated, by insects or wind, rather than hybrids. I have gardened here for 40 years and use a mix of methods as well as change things up as trees grow I like to use wide 4beds for some crops with grass paths that become beds the following year to allow rotation .I also have some raised beds around the house made with stone and raised beds in the kitchen garden with paths deeply bedded in leaves but no borders on the beds I also grow traditional rows crops that get tilled and hilled then over sown with cover crops . I like whatever grows like crazy and I have had success and failures with both methods. Loosening the soil helps with aeration, as soil with good soil structure is composed of 50% air. Over time, the farmer will end up with crops that have adjusted to the local environment. Once everything gets up and growing, there is hardly any space left for me to get in and harvest or pull weeds. I simply could not have a garden at all where we live if not for raised beds; they are an absolute necessity. My cucs and beans look 10 times better than last year. One thing I dislike about my current intensive plot, it is too big. Plant 4 rows red Irish potatoes on 15 Feb every year. Importance and Benefits of Biointensive Farming 1. For example, when I was a teenager I used to have a crush on this really cute redhead, and then later, Lets just say I ended up with a better option. This will work out as three or four rows close together, with larger spaces between. Lots of mulch. Additionally, bio-intensive gardening makes the most efficient use of soil and actually focuses on increasing the amount of fertile soil in the garden. My raised beds drain well and I am harvesting radishes and lettuce with few weeds. When you use a biointensive planting method, you can compost organic matter such as dry leaves, straw, kitchen scraps, and yard clippings, which can be mixed deep into the soil. Bio intensive gardening is a type of gardening that is done with the intention of maximizing the amount of food that can be produced in a small area. The most efficient type of farming with regard to production. They can get more nutrients and water out of their soil by rooting their plants deeper. I do hope and pray for some amazing books to teach me how to grow my own food in Arco Idaho!!! Either option is a lot cheaper than making even one raised bed. Warm Regards from Willowdales Backyard Mini-Farm Ontario, Tod Dorozio. Pesticides, in addition to being important for pest and disease control, must be used properly. Personally, I use raised beds, but not with side boards. I am using some of the square foot method ideas, but Im not sure yet how well they will work. Advantages of Intensive Farming What are the Pros of Intensive Farming 1) High Crop Yield 2) Sustainable Supply of Food 3) Intensive Farming is Simple 4) Technological Advances 5) More Economically Efficient 6) Easy for Farmer to Supervisor and Monitor 7) Meets the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) Protocols I have been reading Masanobu Fukuokas One-Straw Revolution lately and find inspiration in his experiences. See below. Good gardening practices such as watering, fertilizing, crop rotation, composting, and sanitation are especially important in an intensive garden. The proper use of compost and manure, as well as crop rotation, increases soil fertility. The reason our ancestors did wide row gardening/cropping was because they needed room to get a horse through and later to get a tractor through. Its simply a question of your preferences, your resources and your climate. Intensive pig farms provide grossly inadequate space for pigs to grow. Greentumble Energy, Environmental Awareness January 13, 2023. Click to reveal Companion planting also shades the soil, aids in pest control, provide a habitat for beneficial insects, increase crop productivity, and assists in pollination as well as maximizing the use of space. Note the picture of the corn bare soil. It Makes For More Farmers 5. Water! It is also speculated that there is no more, or at least very little land to bring under cultivation. To be successful in intensive gardening, soil quality must be a top priority. Those of us who love gardens, flowers and gardening should find my blog flourishing. If a small intensive garden is supplemented with rainwater harvested off the roof and and stored for use in a smart designed wicking bed style container system, the con of needing more water is moot. They grow close to the ground and can grow close to each other. In an effort to improve my land, I have been researching through numerous sites, including this one. Growing lettuce and similar crops is an example of biointensive farming. (n.d.). Bio-intensive gardening is a type of gradening where the aim is to grow approximately higher amount of food in the available small space. Just not because of water issues. Because of how this form of farming requires less land to produce the same yield of crops as conventional farming, more land could be saved for other uses. The rest of my garden is full of standing water and knee-high weeds. While I have learned much, I have also learned that the rainwater [23k gal. I do buy sawdust and hay for bedding and feeding my horses and that along with wood ashes from my stove all gets cycled back to the soil as well as some minerals . Think energy input and toxicity. We cut our grass anyway, so there is free mulch. They generally are not needed. The biointensive planting method includes no single planting of plants and no mechanized equipment if at all possible. Some of the most . Intensive gardening lets you grow a lot of food in a perfect small space what's not to love? Insisting on biointensive farming will work towards combating the effects of dwindling crop production due to global warming and climate change. 2023 Gardening Know How, Future US LLC, Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036. Light fluffy soil is great, but it also dries out FAST. I am 74 years old, and really like sitting on the edge to plant and harvest! Many small-scale farmers choose to use bio-intensive farming methods for a variety of reasons. For instance, try growing cabbages and lettuce. Intensive gardening lets you grow a lot of food in a perfect small space whats not to love? After a lifetime of gardening, I discovered Permaculture and have embraced some if the principles to be able to continue gardening in my older age. In any case, I would still have to add some liquid (fish & seaweed) fertilizer as our soil is not rich. I would really like to grow with rainfall here in Sacramento county Ca but we dont get any rain in the summer. Also try kale, a fast-maturing cool-season crop that can do very well with pole beans or tomatoes. Therefore, this means that manipulating the system will deconstruct it into parts, making things problematic. Like many things in life, the initial picture doesnt give you the whole story. Thats hard to argue with! At the start I mulched, until I noticed the slugs and the summers in Edmonton, Alberta becoming more humid. Keep reading for more information on the biointensive planting method and how to grow a biointensive garden. Thats awful I feel for you. It was her only pot.. This will not interfere with the lettuce growth and the lettuce wont interfere with the pepper growth because the peppers actually grow above the lettuce. For each pound eaten by humans, between 6 and 24 pounds of soil are lost to agricultural practices like wind and water erosion. Also I can wrap uv treated plastic around them in the winter and keep on gardening. It has been used since 2016 at La Fattoria dell'Autosufficienza to grow vegetables for the agritourism, direct sales and the Macrolibrarsi Store in Cesena, Italy. CON: Raised beds provide well-drained soil. Retrieved from http://gardeninginadrought.com/2016/02/18/taking-a-measured-approach-to-biointensive-growing/, O'Laughlin, L. (n.d.). Mulching is a technique that involves covering the ground with a layer of organic material. When a whole functioning system or entity is manipulated, its impacts are on the nations' or so many people's food security. It is a method that has been around for hundreds of years and is regarded as one of the most environmentally friendly farming methods. We Only Have a Little Time 2. Reading the article and then reading all the comments, pros and cons, it comes down to what suits YOU in YOUR situation. That changed my mind on row gardening. It's more time-consuming to plant according to triangular spacing, especially at smaller spacings. Many small-scale farmers choose to go bio-intensive due to the following reasons: Lower Investment. It is known that ambient conditions may directly affect the behavior of birds reared in the semi-intensive system. Also not having to bend over. Im in Wisconsin and it has been very rainy. To establish arbuscular mycorrhizae the soil should be almost undisturbed putin plants, if you till do so lightly and not deeply, Thank you for the article and the warning about the current raised beds trend! The meaning of this, therefore, is that if you fail to implement the system, there is the risk of seriously destroying the soil and its fertility, and even jeopardizing the entire concept of biointensive farming. I made up a great soil mix with it and filled up my beds. I put aside about 1200 gallons on my old homestead via old hot tubs and rain barrels. Another important aspect of biointensive soil building is compost. Grow or Die is a comprehensive collection of intensive and non-intensive gardening techniques written by me. You will place your plants in more space saving arrangements and this way, your biointensive gardening efforts will be fruitful. A film of light oil on top of the water will stop mosquitoes. Using this method, we can achieve the best yields while utilizing the basic elements that life requires soil, water, air, and sun. Check out these two video sources to learn best how to do this No till, No water, No Fertilizer method of gardening. Failures needed more attention to my natural environment and what I was proposing to do. If your intention is to grow large amounts for preservation, the square foot method in raised beds is not so good. Like many here, I too had raised beds: French Intensive Gardening. Advantages and Disadvantages of Intensive Farming Needless to say, intensive animal farming plays a significant role in the creation and sustenance of a steady food supply. This coming spring I am going to do it again, but the minimum plant spacing will be wide enough to allow a hoe between all plants. You can concentrate on where you plant your plants if you have a permanent bed. On the small scale of the SQ method, you just pull up all of the weeds by hand. The optimum balance of carbon crops and special root crops produce a nutritionally balanced diet in minimal space. widely spaced rows. Collaborative planting is the planting of a variety of crops near each other to benefit insect pollination, pest control, and habitat. The idea centers around nutrient-rich soil that can support growing crops closer together, reducing the amount of resources and hands-on labor required. Raised beds worked well in my wetter climate, intensive planting (shade the ground) in shallow ponds that I could flood once a day worked well in the desert, straw bales, no-dig, square foot, Ive tried most of them and they all can have a place in anyones garden. Chemical fertilisers will accelerate mineralisation of the organic matter. Seeds from open-pollinated crops have fixed traits, unlike hybrid seeds, and are true to their parent, allowing the farmer or gardener to select only the best and most vigorous crops. Row cropping would limit me to one growing cycle. Almost every year, I place kitchen slops & a bit of chicken manure & whatnot in the beds and this breaks down to form organic matter in the somewhat sandy soil, as well as adding some nutrients. Give it a go with multiple methods and see if you observe the same pros and cons of intensive gardening that I have. Imagine my chagrin when I looked out at my beds during the first rain, and saw black water draining from the the bottom of the beds and running down my driveway. PRO: Raised beds provide well-drained soil. ), Read more: Balcony Gardening Big Food Production in Small Spaces. well, the concept of rain barells are good, providing you live in a climate where you get water from the Gods throughout the year. Whats the first thing most new gardeners do when they decide to create their very first plot of veggies in the back 40? It also holds water and less is lost to evaporation. We do not have a rainy season. Rain barrels can save the day. Plant all another seeds on Good Friday every year. and each has its own advantages and disadvantages. It is a truly sustainable mini-farming system that strives to grow a complete diet on as little land as possible while conserving as much water and natural resources as possible. Theres a reason the pioneers didnt use tight little raised beds for their crops! If you build perfect little beds and fill them with perfect soil, youve made a commitment. It can also help to improve the yields of some plants. Water! Great for small scale production. Agricultural systems that are bio-intensive are those that maximize yield while also increasing biodiversity and keeping soil fertility in check. Growing things this way, the mounds retained moisture, requiring watering perhaps once a week at most, and weeds were also kept to a minimum. If you have just a couple of raised beds (like the Mel Bart 44 beds), most of the cons dont matter so much because your setup is small. The important thing is that we all try growing something. Advantages of Intensive Farming 1. Anybody in the area??? I was jazzed about how great it was going to be. Biointensive farming/agriculture is a type of sustainable organic farming systems which involves working with elements such as soil, air, water, and sun to achieve maximum yield, biodiversity and soil fertility. The key to productive, nutrient-dense veggies is get the amount and ratios of the minerals (macros and micros) correct, AND have a biologically active soil (organic matter content of about 5%), and allow no toxins (strong chemical fertilizers and pesticides). Few do. As a result, it is cost-effective to run because it uses less land and resources. It is worthwhile to avoid intensive gardening for larger rows and non-raised plots because they provide significant benefits. Not good. Unlike a single row garden that takes up lots of space, you can plant vegetables tightly in a little square foot garden bed or a horse trough converted into a raised bed. Seed bed has screen, glass of house windows covering both sides with water misters on whole bed. So, we each have to do whats right for our own situation, not someone elses. Whether raised beds or field rows are better depends on climate, rainfall, ground composition and amount labor you are able to put into it. Grandma told him she used 2 pans because the ham was too large for one pan. Moreover, compost is good for holding nutrients, improving the soil's structure, and buffering its PH. Intensive gardening works best with a very high carbon content and active fungi in the soil. That garden is watered by slow run-off water that seeps down from above properties on a barrier of hardpan. I dont know about you, but I change my gardening arrangements all the time. See that sandy soil? Find more gardening information on Gardening Know How: Keep up to date with all that's happening in and around the garden. When harvesting, the carbon in the bodies of the plants, acquired through the composting process, is transformed into a more stable form of carbon, or organic matter, and we put it back into the soil to fertilize it. I like the name. Minerals is everything. Usually, in normal planting, you would plant rows of lettuce, and rows of peppers,, etc. We drink our rain water unfiltered, grow enough oaten hay to feed our own cows which in turn fertilise my garden, and grow enough wheat straw to mulch it to retain moisture. 2. You can also pack high fertility into a small space by stacking up lots of nutrition rather than trying to spread compost over a large area like you would with a traditional garden. With BTE they build up to use a real thick 6 12 layer of mulch (most try to use woodchips when they are available). (Of intensive gardening, not redheads!). Watered it twice all season! Our first square foot garden beds five years ago needed a lot of water compared to my corn. This allows for better drainage and aeration, and also allows roots to penetrate deeper into the soil. I agree saving water is a must-do. Either option is a lot cheaper than making even one raised bed. I had access to a large amount of old cow manure from a covered barn. Its just this: if there was ever a sustained period where the city water shut off or your well quit working, youd lose all your harvest for that year. Compost is a simple way to amend your soil while feeding your crops in a bio-intense garden because it provides a lot of nutrients. Companion planting is a technique that involves planting different types of plants next to each other. This allows us to produce a diet for a year that is both feasible and sustainable in the smallest amount of land possible. If I had mixed the manure into the existing soil, the nutrients would have stayed there. Biointensive Growing for Smart-Scale Farming. I use t-tape drip irrigation tubing for all my planting. rows. Intensive gardening lets you grow a lot of food in a perfect small space whats not to love? http://www.WellFedNeighbor.com/Josephs Page, I enjoyed reading this perspective. It not only counteracts climate change by acting as a carbon sink, but it also recycles. Unlike a single row garden that takes up lots of space, you can plant vegetables tightly in a little square foot garden bed or a horse trough converted into a raised bed. Weeding was an issue, but it worked ok. Im a newbie so I hope this works. With soil cover, and organic matter, the need for water is reduced. I so agree. The advantages of sustainable agriculture are cost reduction, biodiversity, social equality, control of air pollution, and soil erosion, and it advocates for better treatment of animals. I do a little gardening in the clay but rely on my 16 inch raised beds. A square foot garden can be done by almost anyone, and it is a simple, reliable system. This way, the soil aerates up to four times as deep and the roots of the plants will access more nutrients, hold more water, have more room to grow, and produce higher yields. Well see how it works. Theres an excellent article from Mother Earth News that takes the same tack, explaining the great results that came from the authors experimentation with combining both popular intensive gardening methods. (Of intensive gardening, not redheads! A 4x4 raised bed will produce enough for one person to have a single bowl of vegetables every day. keepmoat kitchen options, rick roll phone number 2022, mcdonald's i'm lovin' it font,

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