Biointensive

Frosty Morning Farm, of course, utilizes organic methods, but they have also introduced me to a new concept called biointensive farming. This method entails cultivating small areas of land to produce the largest amount of yields.

Biointensive farming encompasses wide, raised beds, in which plants are positioned in a diamond-shaped pattern instead of squares, so that every inch of space is utilized efficiently. Crops are planted rather closely to ensure that there is a "canopy" when the plant matures - the idea being to discourage weeds.

You can see how wide the beds are...kind of difficult on the lower back when it's time to plant in the middle of the row. But very efficient. And there's Alison, with her tape measurer for precision.

It's not extremely clear in this picture, but see how the cabbage isn't planted side by side on each of the rows? They're alternated to form a diamond.

Leaving "wild spaces" is also important, as it welcomes happy garden animals that eat the pesky ones and keeps the local ecosystem in check. I must remember this every time I cringe at the garter snake slithering away to escape my footsteps.

There's a poster of organic guidelines hanging in the outhouse that I think is especially cute. It reads:

GOING ORGANIC

Cultivate the earth and our connection with it

Greet the sun

Thank busy soil organisms hard at work

Feed the soil. Let it breathe

Welcome earthworms

Practice non-aggression

Bless the seed you sow

Observe weather

Weed early and often

Leave wild spaces

Mulch

Feel your whole body

Know the cycles of the moon

Keep a garden journal

Charm fairies

Explore companion planting

Welcome beneficial insects

Dance in the fields

Save seeds, tell stories

Look at stars

Rotate crops, rest the earth

Observe, adapt, enrich, sustain, preserve

Savor the abundance

Share the harvest

Give thanks