French Intensive Gardening

This permaculture system relies on soil improvement, raised beds, close spacing, companion planting, succession planting and crop rotation. Oui, oui!

- LEAH SMITH

Though you may not have heard of French intensive gardening before, I guarantee you have encountered (and probably use) at least one of its core components. But it’s the inclusion of each part that creates the extreme value of the whole and makes the French intensive (or bio-intensive) method so effective.

Originating in the Parisian suburbs of the 1500s and attracting “outsiders” since at least the late 1800s, the objective of French intensive gardening is to produce high yields well beyond the norm for equivalent pieces of ground — productivity commonly four to six times greater and sometimes more! Though there is variation in the techniques used (and intention of its practitioners, as it was historically for market gardening and is still a favorite of urban and/or smaller for-profit operations but now attracts individuals interested solely in self-sufficiency), some form of each element is always applied.

Though you may not have heard of French intensive gardening before, I guarantee you have encountered (and probably use) at least one of its core components. But it’s the inclusion of each part that creates the extreme value of the whole and makes the French intensive (or bio-intensive) method so effective. Originating in the Parisian suburbs of the 1500s and attracting “outsiders” since at least the late 1800s, the objective of French intensive gardening is to produce high yields well beyond the norm for equivalent pieces of ground — productivity commonly four to six times greater and sometimes more! Though there is variation in the techniques used (and intention of its practitioners, as it was historically for market gardening and is still a favorite of urban and/or smaller for-profit operations but now attracts individuals interested solely in self-sufficiency), some form of each element is always applied.