Have you heard of SPIN farming? Square foot gardening? Other ways to grow more vegetables on less land than you ever thought possible? Attend this class to become familiar with the highlights of these (and other) approaches to growing a lot of food in a little bit of space, and how to apply them in your garden.
2. Introductions
What We Do
• We help you DIY
– Building garden
infrastructure
– Classes
– Consultations
– Doo Tees!
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
3. Class Goal
• Introduce a host of resources that can
help you grow more in less space/time
Topics We’ll Cover
• Intensive vs. extensive agriculture and
gardening
• Common intensive methods: brief
intro to some well-known approaches
• Common intensive methods: focus on
combining techniques
• Inspiration for growing a lot in a little
space
What We’ll Cover TodayPreview
Got Questions?
Please ask as we go along.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
4. Any of these look familiar?
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
5. Intensive vs. extensive agriculture
Intensive
• Required for sustaining high
population densities
• Inputs
– Design: high
– Labor: high
– Capital: high
– Water: high per area, low overall
– Soil: high fertility required
– Chemicals: used extensively
• Outputs
– High per unit of area
Extensive
• Practiced in areas of relatively
low population density
• Inputs
– Design: low
– Labor: low
– Capital: low
– Water: low per area, high overall
– Soil: low fertility required
– Chemicals: not generally used
• Outputs
– Low per unit of area
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
6. Why & whence intensive gardening?
• Intensive farming/gardening is framed a bit differently…
– The point
• Grow the most edible (for you) food in the least space possible
• Minimize wasted space and resources
• Minimize synthetic chemical inputs
• Save time and (make) money
• Feed the world
– The ancestors
• French Intensive
– Alan Chadwick
• Biodynamic
– Rudolf Steiner
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
7. • What’s in a name?
– Named approaches can be
• Systematized
• Replicated
• Sold
• Plug and played
• Your toolkit
– Techniques can be
• Mix-and-matched
• Picked from and chosen to suit
your site and lifestyle
Approach vs. technique
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
8. Choose your package
Here are some things to think
about when choosing an
approach:
• Founder(s)
• Date of inception
• The WHY behind the method
• Target audience
• Cost to implement
• Basis in…
– Science
– Experience
– Theory
– Practice
– Religion
• Source of revenue
– Book(s)
– Teaching
– Product line
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
11. Postage Stamp Garden
• Duane Newcomb (1975)
• Based on French Intensive and
biodynamic methods
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
12. Postage Stamp Garden
• Duane Newcomb (1975)
• Based on French Intensive and
biodynamic methods
• The size of the garden is the
main consideration (“postage
stamp-sized”)
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
13. Postage Stamp Garden
• Duane Newcomb (1975)
• Based on French Intensive and
biodynamic methods
• The size of the garden is the
main consideration (“postage
stamp-sized”)
• Ease of use is also emphasized
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
14. Postage Stamp Garden
• Duane Newcomb (1975)
• Based on French Intensive and
biodynamic methods
• The size of the garden is the
main consideration (“postage
stamp-sized”)
• Ease of use is also emphasized
• Book is readily available online
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
15. Postage Stamp Garden
• Duane Newcomb (1975)
• Based on French Intensive and
biodynamic methods
• The size of the garden is the
main consideration (“postage
stamp-sized”)
• Ease of use is also emphasized
• Book is readily available online
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
16. Square Foot Gardening
• Mel Bartholomew (1981)
• Focuses on residential food
production
• Simple, accessible writing style
and methods
• Easy to wrap one’s head around
• Early editions of the book easily
found online
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
17. GROW BIOINTENSIVETM
• John Jeavons (1974)
• Synthesized French
Intensive and biodynamic
approaches (
“biointensive”)
• Ecology Action attempts to
grow ALL needed materials
on the land being farmed
• Science-based,
experimental
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
19. SPIN Farming
• Wally Satzewich, Gail Vandersteen, and Roxanne
Christensen (early 2000s)
• Targets emerging farmers in urban areas
• Puts farming within a business/entrepreneurship context
• Eliminates two major barriers to entry in farming: capital
and land
• Each publication costs money (but the idea is that by
using the method, you will get that money back...plus!)
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
20. Choose your own adventure
• Not every approach recommends all of these, but they
turn up frequently across approaches:
– Appropriate and long-term design
– Raised beds
– Vertical growing
– Interplanting or companion planting
– Succession/relay planting
– Drip irrigation
– Double digging
– Mulching (and sheet mulching)
– Season extenders (cloches and cold frames)
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
21. Appropriate design
• Permaculture is design-intensive, and designed to be less
input-intensive over time
• Take advantage of inputs that already exist
• Really KNOW your own schedule and what you have to
give a garden/
what you need it to
give you
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
22. Raised beds
• Wooden sides NOT
required
• Easy to customize
• Easy to access
• Easy way to define garden
space
• Recommended for
gardening with children
and people with disabilities
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
23. Vertical growing
• Stairstepping
– Terracing land (or
containers) to catch sun
– Height-based plantings
(short things/tall things)
• Trellising
– Grow UP on supportive
structures
• Hanging gardens
– Grow in baskets or down
from above
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
24. Interplanting
• Timing
– Early and later maturers
– WHEN does a plant use HOW
MUCH space? when is it fully
mature and harvestable?
• Structure
– Tall with short
– Sturdy with vining
• Function
– Nutrient return
– Trap crops
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
25. Succession/relay planting
• Hedge your bets
• Harvest over time
instead of all at
once
• Take maximum
advantage of
space/time
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
26. Drip irrigation
• Put the water where your
plants can use it
• Note: Don’t let the
convenience of a drip system
keep you away from your
garden space
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
27. Double digging
• Soil preparation technique
made popular by John
Jeavons
– Changes structure
– Creates raised beds (no
wooden sides!)
• Quick and dirty, hard
work with immediate
return
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
28. Mulching (& sheet mulching)
• Build, retain, and enrich
soil (your biggest asset!)
– Protects soil from
compaction and nutrient
leaching
– Increases infiltration of
water from soil surface
– Decreases need for
frequent watering
– Reduces temperature
fluctuations
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
29. Composting
• Nutrient cycling
onsite
• Waste reduction
– Turning a waste
product back into
a resource
• Organic matter
• Note: pay special
attention to
sanitation in the
intensive garden
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
30. Season extenders
• Start earlier
• Grow later
• Grow a wider variety of
plants
• Protect your plants
from extremes
(temperature,
precipitation, wind)
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
31. Other ways to grow
• Keeping animals
– For poop
– For products
• Using humanure
• Aquaculture
• Hydroponics
• Vermicomposting
• Growing mushrooms
• Sprouting sprouts
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
35. Next steps for you!
• A lot of this information is
overwhelming and abstract, so
make it manageable and concrete
– Do you want to choose an
approach or implement a
combination of techniques?
– What approach(es) or
technique(s) appeal to you?
• Find a buddy to do your project
with you
Tuesday, January 31, 2012