The Gurus of this movement are Alan Chadwick and John Jeavons.  Jeavons’ book, How to Grow More Vegetables – than you ever though possible on less land than you can imagine, is a classic, packed with information but a bit overwhelming on first reading.  A more accessible book, based on similar ideas is High-Yield Gardening by Hunt and Bortz.  If you want to garden intensively, it pays to have the experts at your fingertips.

Intensive Soil Preparation
Intensive gardening (sometimes called French intensive or biointensive) rests solidly on exceptional soil management.  When you ask your soil to produce twice the amount of vegetation as normal, you have to treat it impeccably (see previous soil articles).

Chadwick and Jeavons both suggest double digging and lots of compost to create topsoil that is as much as 24″ deep.  A more ecological approach using minimal soil disturbance adds compost tea, cover crops, mulching and organic nutrients to the mix.  Match your cultivation method to your soil type (see soil articles) and aim for a deeply fertile soil tilth that is rich in life and minerals.  If you allow fertility to sag, so will your harvest.

Raised Beds
Intensive cultivation uses raised beds, 3′ – 4′ wide (see raised bed article).  This is necessary to gain space that would be lost to pathways and to maintain access to the closely planted beds.  In my greenhouses, the plants are often so dense they threaten to take over the pathways; I have to resort to hacking off the overhanging leaves …  Read More

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