When many people think of gardening, they think of backbreaking in the dirt, hours of weeding, and not much return for their efforts in terms of vegetable production. Some folks don't think they have the space for a big enough garden to grow enough food for their family. Other people don't have a lot of time to spend in the garden, but would still like to enjoy the health benefits of hand-grown produce. There is an increasingly popular method of gardening that addresses all these concerns and even looks more attractive than a traditional garden. It's called French Intensive gardening but is also known as Square-Foot gardening, biointensive gardening or interplanting. This method was originally developed in France to cope with small, narrow backyards although the techniques for soil preparation and planting date back to ancient times. In addition, gardeners all over the world have been refining the process for years, and some claim the French Intensive method has let their garden produce four times the amount of food that a normal garden would. Sounds great - what's the catch? Only that the intensive garden requires more intensive preparation than a traditional garden. Makes sense, doesn't it? It is more difficult to put in an intensive garden, at least the first year. Here are some of the properties of a completed French Intensive bed:

• Raised bed with a low mound of earth, perhaps with borders around bed.
• Large, widely spaced beds (two by four feet up to six by twelve feet)
• "Double-dug" enriched soil: deep, fluffy, high nutrient dirt

To begin a French Intensive garden, first plan out where you want the beds. Select an area with good sunlight and enough drainage to take care of excessive rainfall. Then determine the size and location of your beds. Typically beds are 4 to 5 feet wide and up to twelve feet long. Also, plan paths between each bed, as this is where you'll be taking care of your plants. Be sure you'll be able to reach the center of bed. Stake out the corners of the beds and run twine along the borders. Then it's time to start digging!

Soil preparation is the hallmark of French Intensive gardening, and is the most important (and labor-intensive) part of the preparation process. While you dig, pay attention to your soil. Test the pH of your soil to determine what kind of nutrients you'll need. If the dirt in your neighborhood is heavily clay-based, use sand and sawdust or woodchips to make the soil looser. Don't use beach sand for this process; use a building grade sand. Beach sand has rounded edges and will give your soil a concrete-like consistency, while building sand has sharp edges and can help aerate the earth. If you have the opposite problem and your soil is too sandy, add extra humus as you work the soil.

Each bed is dug twice. The first time through use a shovel and a garden fork and dig along the bed lengthwise. The idea is to make the earth lighter and "fluffy" and also to enrich the soil, so take your time and do it right. Break up any larger chunks of dirt and start working in humus and compost as you go. Dig about two feet deep from where you want the top of your bed to be so the roots of your vegetables have plenty of room to grow. Keep working the soil from one end to the other. When you reach the end, turn around and go back the other way. The second pass is meant to break the soil into ultra-fine particles and make sure the entire mass is adequately enriched and fertilized.

After the bed has been prepared you'll find that the beds will be about 3 to 8 inches above the paths. Enclose the bed using a material that will resist decay, such as railroad ties, cinderblocks, or cedar planks. Remember, these beds are meant to last for years so don't be afraid to build a more scenic enclosure, particularly if your garden really is in your backyard. When the soil has been contained rake the soil flat.

Whew... that may seem like a lot of work! Keep in mind that a bit more work "up front" will pay off in the long run. Since the beds are raised it makes planting, fertilizing, watering, weeding, and harvesting much easier. In addition, since the beds aren't walked on you won't need to till them next spring. Put that noisy old tiller on a garage sale.

Now that your beds have been prepared, it's time to decide what you want to plant. The good news is that you can grow multiple plants in each bed. First decide what you and your family will want to eat. It doesn't make sense to spend all summer tending something that's going to end up back in the compost pile. Then look at what will save you the most money when you go to the supermarket. Then it's time to plant. Garden in a grid pattern, so you'll be able to determine where you planted each vegetable. Also you can plant foods that grow at different rates together. Since the plants mature at different times they won't interfere with each other. Plant normally, just be sure not to walk on the soil as you go.

Now that you've got your garden in your work isn't done, but it is greatly lessened. Water a French Intensive garden more than you would a traditional garden, as there's potentially two feet of root structure, but don't overwater. The intensive method doesn't eliminate weeding, but it does bring the weeds closer to you. And when it's time to harvest, you can bring your wheelbarrow right between the rows. When spring rolls around again you can put your garden in earlier, as the raised beds stay warmer and collect more sunlight than a normal garden would. Just add a bit more compost to your beds and they'll be ready for planting again.

Since the soil in a French Intensive garden is so thoroughly prepared, this method is suitable for any part of the country. And since the size of the bed is so flexible a garden can placed almost anywhere. Why not make an investment in your garden that will pay dividends year after year? A French Intensive garden is an important tool and a fantastic addition to any property.

-InstantAcres.Com Staff