Intensive Gardens

Zone I Strategies

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OverviewOverview• Zone One Características.

• Soil Cultivation.

• Soil Food Web.

• Living Mulch.

• Plant Guilds.

• Carbon Farming.

• Calorie Farming.

• Open Pollinated Seed.

• Whole Farming.

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IntroductionIntroduction• Start.

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Zone I

Indoor-OutdoorIndoor-Outdoor• Living spaces in the garden.

Use Vertical SpaceUse Vertical Space• Maximise functions and

yields.

Container GardeningContainer Gardening• Vertical Space & Roofs.

Sheet MulchSheet Mulch

Kitchen HerbsKitchen Herbs• Accessible daily food needs.

• Plants that need freq. attention.

Animal TractorsAnimal Tractors• Many functions.

• Must be contained from garden.

Dwarf VarietiesDwarf Varieties• Vertical Space & Roofs.

Soil Cultivation

Double Dug Raised Double Dug Raised BedsBeds

Double Dug down to at least 24 inches.

Allows close spacing of plants and very deep roots.

Allows deeper penetration of air, water, and nutrients.

Plant roots can grow more freely

No DiggingNo Digging

Importing SoilImporting Soil

Raised Bed EffectRaised Bed Effect• Extend Season.

• Improve Drainage.

• Retains Moisture.

• No compaction.

• Weeding simplified.

• Higher Yields.

Soil Food Web

Re-mineralisationRe-mineralisation

The basic stuff of soil

Parent material

Rock Dust

Sart.

Answer Lives in the Answer Lives in the SoilSoil

• Healthy soil, healthy plants, healthy animals and people...

½ kilo of healthy topsoil may contain

several billion microorganisms.

Waste is Food – Waste is Food – Recycle!Recycle!Compost !

(1) Replenish nutrients.

(2) Maintain healthy soil.

(3) Sustain microrganisms (Bacteria & Fungi).

Aerobic Compost Tea

Living Mulch

Flats

Mini Greenhouse

Close Hexagon spacings

Leaves touching

Creates Microclimaté

(1) Reduces evaporation.

(2) Retards weeds.

(3) Retains carbon dioxide.

(4) Protects micro biota.

Three to Five Foot Three to Five Foot BedBed

• Easy access.

• Easy watering.

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Hexagonal PlantingHexagonal Planting• Start.

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Mini ClimateMini Climate• Gas exchange.

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• Increased Moisture.

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• Shades weeds.

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Plant Guilds

Companion planting. For reasons that are still not well understood but have been thoroughly validated, many plants complement one another and grow more abundantly together - say bush beans and strawberries. In other cases, companion plants may serve to repel garden pests of various kinds, or may attract beneficial insects. For instance, borage helps to control tomato worms and also attracts pollinators like bees.

Mutually Benefical Mutually Benefical PlantsPlants

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Crop RotationCrop Rotation

SymbiosisSymbiosis• Repel Pests.

• Attract pests.

• Fix nitrogen.

• Tap nutrients.

• Loosen Soil.

Weed IndicatorsWeed Indicators• Dont hate them.

• Pioneers that colonise.

• Handle extreme soils.

• Fast vigorous carbon pathways.

• Attract insects.

Compaction and Acidity

Dock accumulates potassium and phosphorus and decompacts.

Calorie Farming

Calorie farming. Here the emphasis is on growing the most efficient calorie-producers for human consumption. For instance, about 30% of all the crops that are grown on a small subsistence farm are high-calorie root crops, such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, parsnips and others.

Food Miles & MoreFood Miles & More• Average supermarket dinner travels

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Food Exercise

Basic Food NeedsBasic Food Needs• As close to home as possible.

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30% Root Crops30% Root Crops

10% Green 10% Green VegetablesVegetables

Carbon Farming

"Growing soil" is the key to long term farm sustainability.

Some 50-60% of all the crops grown on a modern biointensive farm are dual-purpose crops that provide both calories for humans

and an abundance of material for building compost piles. These crops include many

grains, corn, fava beans and sunflowers, among others.

60% Dual Purpose60% Dual Purpose• Seed and grain crops.

– Quinoa; tolerates dry and germination in cold...0o

• Carbon rich crops.

– Produce high carbon content for area.

• 30:1 Ratio for compost.

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CornCorn

FavaFava

SunflowersSunflowers

Open Pollinated

Seed

Hybrid SeedsHybrid Seeds• First generation, from two distinct

parents of same species. – Hybrid vigour" which can improve

yields.

– May be sterile or fail to breed.

• Enabled commercial seed markets. – Farmers buys new hybrid seed every

growing season.

– Replace traditional farm-saved seed

Hybrid SeedsHybrid Seeds• Known as "high response" seed.

– Fertilisers, herbicides, pesticides and water.

• Hybrids bred for maximum yield, ripen at same time, over hardiness.

• Farmer reliance forces high chemical inputs.

– Trapped farmers in debt cycle...suicide!

• Organic methods are substituted.

– Creates lifeless dusty soils prone to erosion.

Global ControlGlobal Control• 85% Agrichemical sales concentrated;

– Syngenta, Bayer, Monsanto, BASF, Dow y Dupont.

• Three corporations control 90% global grain trade;– Cargill, Archer Daniels, Bunge.

• Dupont, Monsanto control seed market. – ¼ seed sale genetically engineered.

Open Pollinated SeedOpen Pollinated Seed• Traditional varieties selected for

millenia. • Selected under organic

conditions...grow well without chemical inputs.

• More hardy, better flavor & more flexible.

• Dynamic, adapt to local ecosystems.

Seed SavingSeed Saving• In the past 100 years, lost 90% of

vegetable varieties in the UK.

– Local, unusual, home-saved varieties.

• We need to find old varieties.

– Local people, old gardens, seed savers.

• Can create our own varieties.

– Specifically adapted.

PollinationPollination

WinnowingWinnowing

Storage ConditionsStorage Conditions• Low moisture

– Dry well – should crack.– In air tight container – rubber tube

• Low light.– Bright light can damage seed.

• Low temperature.– Temp can stimulate biological activity.– constant temperature of around 5° C

• Pests and diseases.– Only healthy seed stored.– Neem, cayene, sand.

Whole Farming

ConclusionsConclusions• Start.

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A "whole system" approach. Biointensive farming emphasizes the need for integrating all of the many parts and fully utilizing all of the available knowledge about farming techniques. Some of that knowledge is very subtle. For instance, it has been found that the flavor of lettuce depends on what time of day it is harvested. Lettuce is much sweeter if it is harvested before dawn, because the bitter saps descend into the plant roots during the night and rise up into the plant again when the sun comes up.