Ways to Grow, Part One:
“buy this” and “amend with that,” Jeavons encourages you to cultivate dual-purpose crops that can be used for compost and food. Good examples include fava beans, corn, sunflowers, peas, and rye. You eat the edible part and compost the rest. In a time when soil loss and dependence The Biointensive on petroleum-derived fertilizers are front and center issues, Method Jeavons’ approach is a breath of fresh, sustainable air. To get started with a Biointensive bed, first dig up the by David Y. Goodman, weeds from a patch of ground at least five feet wide and as UF/IFAS Marion County Master long as you like. Carefully toss aside nutsedge roots, rocks, Gardener and other debris. Then double-dig the entire patch with a shovel and spading fork and add compost as you go. Blood meal, kelp meal, and manures are good additions, though not required. s fall veggie season gets into serious swing, the Haven’t double-dug before? Well, you’re in for a question always arises: “OMIGOSH, what is that good workout. To double-dig your garden, make a footBUG?!?” Actually, that isn’t the question I was going deep trench across its width and put the dirt aside or in a to ask. That question, though no less scary, is “What kind of wheelbarrow. Then loosen the dirt beneath with a spading gardening method should I use?” fork or turn it over with your shovel to the depth of another Ranch I know folks who swear by the old Roundup, tiller and4 Arrows 12” or so.Meats 10-10-10 method. Of course, that makes organic gardeners ORGANIC After that, dig up the next strip and turn it into the first want to swear as well. Grassfed Angus Beef one as you go, continuing to dig and loosen to a depth of Scorched earth aside, there are many different organic Heritage angles you can take. Each has its vocal defenders and Pork 24” all the way until you get to the last row. At that last row, Free-Range dumpTurkey in the extra dirt from the first one, and voila! you attackers. You can grow in straw bales, buckets, hydroponicHeirloom No antibiotics, hormones, or animal byproducts fed beds, aquaponic systems, traditionally spaced and hoed ... Continued on the next page Pickupinavailable in Marion County / We also ship plots, vertical towers, raised beds, tires, holesripped bags of potting soil, 55-gallon drums, container gardens, window 4 Arrows Ranch / Citra, FL boxes, etc. 352-595-8387 / grassfedgourmet@aol.com However, when it comes to intensive small-scale Mosswood Farm Store www.thegrassfedgourmet.com production, three major gardening schools pop up again 703 NE Cholokka Blvd and again. These are: Micanopy, FL 32667 n the Biointensive method, (352) 466-5002 n the Ruth Stout/Lasagna Gardening approach, and www.MosswoodFarmStore.com n Mel Bartholomew’s Square Foot Garden. Since I have a penchant for experimentation, I have Organic coffee and pastries, tried all three over the last few years. They each have their sustainable living books and ups and downs, but all are worth trying. In my next columns earth friendly supplies, crafts, I’ll tell you about the Ruth Stout method and Square Foot soaps, homemade bread, much Gardening. For now, let’s grow Biointensive! more. Open every day 10-6.
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The Biointensive Method The Biointensive approach is perfect for getting a productive garden going on the cheap. It’s been used in Kenya and elsewhere for that very reason. Based on the pioneering work of English master gardener Alan Chadwick and improved upon by John Jeavons, this method relies on double-digging, compost, and close planting of veggies to keep the soil loose, fertile, and moist. John Jeavons’ book Grow More Vegetables provides a wealth of information. One point Jeavons emphasizes, and that most gardening methods miss, is the traditional garden’s need for constant additives from elsewhere in the form of soil amendments and fertilizer. On the other hand, the Biointensive method’s answer is: grow your own! Rather than telling you to
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Organic Meats
Grassfed Angus Beef Heritage Pork Free-Range Heirloom Turkey No antibiotics, hormones, or animal byproducts fed Pickup available in Marion County / We also ship
4 Arrows Ranch / Citra, FL 561-718-2019 / grassfedgourmet@aol.com www.thegrassfedgourmet.com
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