Subsistence Is Resistance
The Revolutionary Gardening Methods of John Jeavons
by Matthew Gammett
We don’t have to continue what we’ve been doing. We can be pioneers in an opening field of miniaturization of agriculture, of a sophisticatedly effective use of resources, of building up a fantastically abundant ecosystem on this planet . . . I may not change the world, but I want to vote for life with my life. If I wasn’t acting positively about these problems—good grief!—then I’d really be depressed . . . The question we need to ask is how can we easily raise our food with manual techniques. — John Jeavons
I was in my second year of the Boise State University Horticulture Program when I was introduced to the name John Jeavons. My instructor, Leslie Blackburn, took us out back of the greenhouse complex to some well-made raised beds. With shovels and forks in hand, we enthusiastically got our first lesson on double digging and biointensive potato planting. Ms. Blackburn told us she had learned about the techniques while attending a gardening and farming conference in California.
My classmates and I had a vague idea of the Grow Biointensive method because we had heard of the legendary potato yields reported from many folks who had implemented these techniques. But that was about as far as our knowledge went. After receiving a copy of The Sustainable Vegetable Garden by John Jeavons and Carol Cox from my instructor, I realized that the focus of the Grow Biointensive system was on attaining high yields and calorie production in a limited space. Hmmm . . . The aspect of calorie production rather than just “how to grow” really stuck with me and would guide my farming hand in the years to come.
A few years later, by some course of beautiful synchronicity, I found myself living near Ecology Action, a Grow Biointensive research and education site in Willits (and home to John Jeavons). I discovered this fact while listening to the only local radio station that made its way deep into the redwoods. I was tuned to The Farm and Garden Show on KZYX (shout out!), and the hosts were conducting an interview with John Jeavons on hand watering efficiency potentials on the . . . “What?! The double digging people?” I said aloud in the kitchen. “Ecology Action is just down the street from here?”
A note on double digging: Double digging is a widely used method of garden bed preparation and is utilized by the Grow Biointensive method. The idea is to aerate and loosen soil while revitalizing soil structure and microbial communities. It is usually only done for the first year or two, and then a transition can be made to only broad forking the beds, minimizing how much the soil is disturbed. The benefits are countless: it improves drainage, breaks-up the plow pan, improves soil structure and aeration for organisms, and creates a nice crumbly soil texture for planting transplants or seeds.
John Jeavons, founder of Ecology Action
Around that same time, I became quite enamored with Dr. Elaine Ingham’s work on the Soil Food Web and the topic of growing all of one’s own food, and I realized that this was a perfect moment of inspired synchro-mysticism. I was rediscovering my course material from school and noticing a great urge to learn and practice what I would later find is called “minimal area diet farming.” Historically, this would have been known simply as subsistence farming—farming to feed your family without much, if any, surplus for market. Is food production for making money or for building community, soil, and food security? Must they be mutually exclusive?
With the research he has been conducting for over 40 years, Jeavons claims that it is possible to make a modest income using the Grow Biointensive techniques while feeding yourself and your family. From my own experience, I have no doubt that this is true. Unfortunately, double digging (and thus Grow Biointensive) has developed a negative reputation in some circles. I hear time and again, from people of all ages, that it is just too much work, too much hard work.
First of all, not all soils require double digging. Double digging is about a kind of radical, restorative, and regenerative approach to revitalizing and oxygenating damaged or extremely marginal land—which, by the way, is the kind of land that most of the humans on this planet have access to. That’s right, double digging is a radical act and it can be restorative for body, mind, and soil! Second of all, it only takes a couple of solid hours, give or take, to dig a 100 square foot bed. That’s just a blink in a season of farming. It can be done in half this time with experience. Here’s what John Jeavons has to say:
“. . . I know that the most controversial issue of my work is labor. Most of us aren’t used to physical labor. We don’t want to farm, much less farm manually. And when we have those kinds of feelings, we set up mental blocks and decide, emotionally and understandably, that it can’t be done, at least not without overworking or stressing out. The question we need to ask is how can we easily raise our food with manual techniques. This question will bring the insights necessary to simplify the process to where it is humanly effective as well as resource effective.”1
The importance of the Grow Biointensive food production method was immediately obvious to me. I could potentially grow all of my own food on a very small section of this huge and glorious earth—without a tractor, without a tiller, with minimal labor, minimal investment, and low to no inputs! Some research by Ecology Action has the space requirement for feeding oneself down to 1000 square feet or less. (See Matthew Drewno’s upcoming publication, Achieving More with Less at www.Growbiointensive.com.)
As John said, “Perhaps partly because I’ve always been concerned with making the most efficient possible use of resources, I became curious about just how small an area could provide a complete living—including food and income—for one individual. The more times I put the question to people, though, the more different acreage figures or plain “don’t knows” I received. So one day I decided that, if I wanted to find the answer, I’d have to do the legwork myself.”2
Since learning these techniques that John Jeavons created, I have devoted as much time as possible each year to practicing and honing my skills on minimal area diet production and Grow Biointensive food raising techniques. Currently, my family and I operate a small scale oyster mushroom farm in Boonville. While the small space and low inputs of mushroom farming are exciting and promising for our future food security, for me personally, nothing compares to just getting outside with my face in the sun and my hands in the soil.
As I write this, humanity is in the midst of a global pandemic, and I think what has become most clear is the fragility of our food distribution networks. It has been on plain display how easily the artificially-inflated abundance of the supermarket can dwindle in just a few days’ time, even with all the might of our industrial system pushing it along. As the shelves sit bare of flour, beans, and rice (and tp), many of us have taken action by planting more food than we think we might need in an effort to “overgrow the system.” What better way to empower yourself and take control of the situation than to plant a garden? With Grow Biointensive food raising techniques, you can start your journey on the path to growing your own food. For example, you can grow all the garlic you need for a year in just 100 square feet of space. Of course, this one act of planting garlic is part of a larger synergistic whole which you can learn more about at Ecology Action’s website, GrowBioIntensive.org.
On the right sidebar are three crops to try with biointensive spacing and growing techniques that blew my socks off with their productivity of calories and nutrients in a small space. Try incorporating a 5 ft x 20 ft or 3 ft x 10 ft planting of at least one of these root crops into your normal gardening routine. If you are ready to try some of the more advanced biointensive food growing plans, check out some of Ecology Action’s publications like How to Grow More Vegetables, 8th ed. This is the hallmark book of the entire biointensive methodology, authored by John Jeavons and many researchers and interns over the decades. It provides some really nifty spacing and planting charts with data, as well as a jump-off point for your own subsistence farming guide in your own locale. They have translated and transmitted their guides, techniques, and books into dozens of languages all around the world.
We have an incredible resource right here in Mendocino County. Almost forty years after Ecology Action came to Willits, we find ourselves on top of a mountain of information related to food production specific to our local climate. In our rapidly changing world, we would be wise to utilize the knowledge and the tools to grow all of our own food in a small space and with limited resources. We can and we must strive to create a vibrant local food economy that nourishes our bodies and communities!
Sidebar: An Intro to Biointensive Gardening
Leeks that have been transplanted into their second flat with 1.5” spacing.
Leeks: In the early spring and throughout the year until mid-August, sow leek seeds in a 3” deep flat at ½” spacing in a hexagonal staggered pattern like a beehive. At one month, up-pot into a new flat that is 6” deep with 1.5” spacing. Transplant into the garden soil or garden bed one month later at 6” offset hexagonal spacing with at least 30” of bed width, and watch your investment in leeks grow mightily. Harvest begins at pinky thickness on up until flowering next year.
Rutabagas: In spring and early fall, sow rutabagas broadcast style into 3” deep flats and thin out to every 1/2”. One month later, transplant into bed at 6” offset hexagonal spacing with a bed width of at least 30” and watch these things grow into creamy, tasty, monster root crop goodness! Harvest starting at 3” tuber size up to 6” before they get woody.
Parsnips: In the early spring through the early fall, sow parsnip seeds into a 3” deep flat. Approximately one month later, transplant the parsnip plants into your garden bed at 4” inch offset spacing with a bed width of at least 30”. You will be rewarded by root crop goodness up until they begin to flower next year in the early spring.
All these crops can be left in the ground over winter if fall planted and harvested when needed, so no need for a root cellar! These are just a few of the crops that can become a lifeline during lean times.
(1) - https://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/john-jeavons-biointensive-agriculture-zmaz90jfzshe
(2) https://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/john-jeavons-zmaz80mazraw
Disclaimer: Matthew Nasser-Gammett is in no way affiliated with Ecology Action, its partners, and/or affiliates. He is just a fan of their very relevant time-tested gardening practices.
Matthew lives and farms mushrooms in the redwoods and grows vegetables in Anderson Valley with his family. One day soon they hope to move onto a permanent land base in Mendocino County, where they too can conduct research into subsistence farming and resource-scarce food raising techniques, and continue to contribute to our local food economy.
