Don't know how much help this will be but DMOZ has a great research section on Intensive Gardening that you might want to explore. Also "French Intensive" does come up for discussion over on the Square Foot Gardening forum here since the two approaches share so many basic ideas. I linked one long discussion on it (basically it is a critical one) from earlier this year below.

The Potager and the Permaculture forums here also discusses some of its concepts on a regular basis.

I first got into it under the label Biodynamic Gardening via a Mother Earth News article back in the early 80's. Not a purist by any means but I incorporate its raised mounds and intensive planting within parts of my larger gardens since I have the space.

Generally I find it produces good production for certain types of crops - those that tolerate the packed growing conditions well like herbs and leafy greens - but not all (tomatoes and root crops that benefit from thinning and more space) and great spot soil improvement. Also works great for succession plantings but I've never found the companion planting aspect to be worthwhile.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: French intensive gardening

While I do believe that French Intensive gardening (aka Jeavons, square-foot, etc.) does indeed have utility, I would have to disagree with alot of your conclusions. First of all, vegetable cultivation for human consumption is quite removed from some sort of pristine "natural" condition. It requires forced suppression of competing plants, manual cultivation of the soil, introduction of processed inputs (yes, even compost has been processed), irrigation, fertilization, genetic selection, pest suppression, etc. etc. My point being that if you were to buy a package of 100 vegetable seeds and plant them into just any old soil, I would hazard to say that less than 10 of them would survive to a viable harvest. And of those few, I would hazard to say that their nutritional and culinary value would be very low.

There is a movement under foot lately that tries to equate vegetable gardening with some sort of Rousseau-esque state of nature. It is not. That vegetable on your plate has more to do with human labour than it does with a state of nature qua nature.

Seen in this way, French intensive gardening is simply another system of getting plants to produce what we want, when we want it. As you say, [the French intensive makes use of] shade, sun, spacing, nutrients, beneficial insects, raised bed, square foot, permaculture, organic and more. There is really nothing natural about that. In a state of nature, the plants that survive are hardly suitable for human consumption because they are tough, woody, and tasteless. They have adapted to the natural state by putting their energy into survival and reproduction, whereas the vegetable and the human work together to have that energy directed into an edible fruit, root, leaf, etc.

Is this just a philosophical distinction? Perhaps, but it does point to a glaring problem with the intensive system: it makes the plants conform to the system/plan rather than having the system/plan adapt to the plants. If you doubt me, simply take a look at Weaver and Bruner's root sketches for common vegetables. There is no way you can tell me sprawling vegetables like squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, etc. are best suited being crammed together with only a foot or so separating them.

For the record, I do practice a semi-intensive system for my kitchen garden: lettuce, spinach, herbs, carrots, etc. But for my large "production" garden I find the intensive system to be a waste of time, energy and inputs. I still build wide, raised beds, ammended with organic inputs and very carefully cultivated and nurtured. The difference is that each plant is given the space required to grow to it's full development. This means less water and larger individual vegetables. It also means less time on my part, which is a very limited commodity.

Here is a link that might be useful: Root diagrams

I don't have much time to post now but I just want to say I also am very interested in this method of gardening, since I have a very small yard - just 40 x 40' and it still has to have space for living/dog. Also thanks to Eliot Coleman's four season book. I did the chenille design he described in my garden as an experiment this year, we'll see how it does.

That said, I also agree with m lorne's post - it is not a Rousseau-esque state of nature - although, I don't think that is necessarily a bad thing. It is at least working with nature to produce food in a sustainable way.

Anyway, just wanted to say I like this conversation.

The root sketches are amazing, thanks for posting the link.

I am not an expert about the subject and this is the first time taht I have heard FI. But I do certain things that way.
For example, I plant radishes and lettuce where will be my tomatoes bed. I thins them and plant tomatoes. By the tim tomato plants shade the patch, radishe and lettuce are gone. Same principle can apply to basil patch. Plants bunching onios between then. I also let some weeds similar to clovers to grow around the plants. The are good natural geen mulch and have very shallow and week roots.

Arranging the location of the plants with respect to height, shade and sun is another matter.

I don't pretend to raise all of my vegetable varieties in the intensive manner, but find that its emphasis on PLANNING is invaluable. Some who have real soil may not understand the issues of palnning where the top soil is less than and inch thick and below that there is very heavy, water holding solid red clay that is more like a brick in the summer. Too with multiple health issuesI just cannot use a tiller and long rows anymore. Now, I try to preserve the natural soil food we in the top six inches, while raising the beds through soil amendments and then having raised beds that will someday be up to my tow foor deep frames. For the record, the clay here is almost always acid. I was once instructed that dolomitic limestone is not as desirable as calcium carbonate. Too, I work on humate and tilth development as well as trying to get carbonaceous materials into the soil and adding life sustaining elements through compost and vermiculture. Here, the planning in terms of rotation, planting only what I will eat for harvest when I need it and not growing those crops that are cheap to buy, too tall, or too sprawling. The garden may be small, but with raised beds it produces a lot. Too, digging two feet deep cna turn the life web into the depths while creating a pool since those deep beds don't drain well into the surrounding soil. With Advanced and aggressive Forestiers disease I just cannot do that intensive work, so this works for me. IN the dry season...and we had record droughts for two years before the floods came...up to 4 inches again tuesday..the close proximity of the kitchen crops cover the soil beds. Truth is, I combine a LOT of approaches including sustainability, permaculture, biodynamic, square foot, raised beds, organic, and GOOD aerobic compost. No, this may not work for everyone everywhere, but at 60, in the south, there are MANY things to be learned and applied from permaculture and intensive approaches. I simply try to take the best of the best and that which works for me. Having just had two strokes and with multiple heart stints, I have to think more and sweat less.

Having read your reply, I can now see why the intensive system works for you. For small scale gardening, it can be a real God-send. When I was living in the suburbs, I had two raised beds totaling about 35 square feet. Had alot of fun, learned quite a bit, and enjoyed some fresh veggies.

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However, we moved this year to a rural property and as a result have had more space to experiment. This year's patch measured about 50'x50', with an expansion for next year of an additional 20'x60.

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Yes it is indeed more work, but I shudder to think of how much work would be involved with an intensive system on the same scale.

Like you, I plan extensively and very meticulously. My plan begins with a soil survey, a drainage survey and a crop rotation scheme. Most of my effort is involved with creating good soil, followed by infrastructure, followed by growing from seed. The actual growing, weeding and general maintenance usually falls by the wayside during the summer, but with a strong foundation and a good plan, the plants usually fair pretty well.

In the end, whatever gets us out the door and into the fresh air is the best system. Fresh salads and good soups are just the icing on the cupcakes in my opinion.

Best of luck!
Michael

Here in CA during the summer it never rains, so the summer garden is entirely irrigated. I've found that it's easier to keep soil moist when planting in blocks rather than rows. Also planting close enough that plants overlap helps shade the ground and prevent evaporation. With plants in a block, things seem to work best with short plants on the south edge, moving up to tall plants in the back. A good example is basil in front, peppers in the middle, and trellised tomatoes in the back. I looked at SFG, but IMO the grid is over-analyzing things, so instead I just planted everything a bit closer than the packet recommended and got a good dense canopy.

Here is a link that might be useful:

I use a combination of styles, which I think a lot of people probably do when gardening. I like to combine plants in the smaller beds and use lots of flowers. This bring in lots of beneficial bugs and helps save on watering.

For squash, bean teepees and other large crops, I still combine a little (potatoes with bush beans, or radishes around squash when first planted) but have more room around the plants.

Michael- Your new garden is very large (which is great) but it may help to use a little space to put in some perennial flowers and possibly small shrubs in a bed between the garden and that large crop (corn?) behind it. You may not need it, but in our area, large single crops bring their own pest problems to the garden and a hedgerow can bring in many beneficial insects and birds to slow down the grasshoppers and other pests. Again, this may not be a problem in your area. You have a great garden space :)