How to Grow More Vegetables : And Fruits, Nuts ... - Shroomery

(Left) GROW BIOINTENSIVE raised bed;
(right) traditional rows.
Row plants are more susceptible to soil
compaction.
4 HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY
The curved surface area between the 2 edges of the landslide
bed provides more surface area for the penetration and
interaction of the natural elements than a flat surface. The
simulated landslides or raised beds used by biodynamic
gardeners are usually 3 to 6 feet wide and of varying lengths.
In contrast, the planting rows usually made by gardeners and
farmers today are only a few inches wide with wide spaces in
between. The plants have difficulty growing in these rows due
to the extreme penetration of air and the greater fluctuations
in temperature and moisture content. During irrigation, water
floods the rows, immerses the roots in water, and washes soil
away from the rows and upper roots. Consequently, much of
the beneficial microbiotic life around the roots and soil, which
is so essential to disease prevention and to the transformation
of nutrients into forms the plants can use, is destroyed and
may even be replaced by harmful organisms. (About 3 ⁄ 4 of
the beneficial microbiotic life inhabits the upper 6 inches of
the soil.) After the water penetrates the soil, the upper layers
dry out and microbial activity is severely curtailed. The rows
are then more subject to wide temperature fluctuations.
Finally, to cultivate and harvest, people and machine trundle
down the trough between the rows, compacting the soil and
the roots, which eat, drink, and breathe—a difficult task with
someone or something standing on the equivalent of your
mouth and nose!
These difficulties are also often experienced at the edges
of raised beds prepared in clay soils during the first few
seasons. Until the soil texture becomes friable, it is necessary
to level the top of the raised bed to minimize erosion (see
chapter on Bed Preparation), and the soil on the sides of the
beds is sometimes too tight for easy planting. Increased exposure
to the elements occurs on the sides, and the tighter soil
of the paths is nearby. The plants along the sides usually do
not grow as vigorously as those further inside the bed. When
raised beds are prepared in friable soil, the opposite is true.
The top of the bed can now be curved and erosion will not be
a problem. The soil is loose enough for plants to thrive along
the sides. The edges of the beds are included in the miniclimate
effect created by closely spaced plants, and the water
that runs from the middle of the bed provides the extra moisture
the edges need.