Goal: Grow more using less

In this introductory episode we will get acquainted with some of the concepts that will help you to grow food sustainably, and meet some of the leaders in the Biointensive farm movement. Together these visionaries have been responsible for training and inspiring many thousands of farmers; much of that across Latin America and Africa.

Travel to the pre-Columbian heart of Mexico City to the ancient aquatic farms of Xochimilco. Here we discover a farming culture that has thrived for well over 1000 years but now contends with land rendered barren by the chemical‐industrial methods of the Green Revolution. In response, we find a small group who is using the GROW BIOINTENSIVE® method to heal their land and return to a traditional path in harmony with the environment.

Goal: Build soil and improve soil structure

Inspired by Alan Chadwick’s pioneering work with the Biodynamic and French Intensive methods, John Jeavons (Director of Ecology Action and author of ‘How to Grow More Vegetables…’) began experimenting with a small garden plot in an industrial park in California in 1972. Over the past 48 years, the GROW BIOINTENSIVE® method that Jeavons developed has influenced farmers and gardeners everywhere.

Along with basic instruction on ‘double digging’ from John Jeavons, we meet Lupe Chávez and Fredy Armengol Méndez in Oaxaca, Mexico. This young couple was searching for a new way to farm and found the GROW BIOINTENSIVE® method. After training intensively at Ecology Action in California they returned home and began a successful farm business and training center called AgroSano. This was only the beginning of a radical transformation which began with deep soil preparation. In loosening compacted soil, we unearth a world of possibility.

Goal: Maximize compost quality, quantity and microbial diversity

Fleeing from wide-spread violence in Kenya, Samuel Nderitu and Peris Wanjiru arrived in an abandoned field and founded G-BIACK (GROW BIOINTENSIVE® Agricultural Center of Kenya). Determined to tackle hunger and poverty, they began teaching others in the Biointensive method with barely any resources. Now, several years later they have directly and indirectly trained thousands, improved social conditions in the surrounding area and proven that this method works regardless of what you start with. Join Samuel, Peris and Agustín Medina Macías (of El Mezquite Biointensivo) in learning to build your own compost and experience the magic of improving the fertility of your land.