annually at maturity. Two trees on 8-foot centers in 100
square feet can have a combined yield of up to 200
pounds, and the average person in the United States eats
only about 162 pounds of tree fruit per year. Fava beans
may yield the greatest amount of organic matter. Alfalfa
and clover are also fun to raise as nitrogen-*xing
legumes to improve your soil’s fertility.
Our goal with wheat is to eventually get two 26-pound
crops in an 8-month period. This would yield one 1-
pound loaf of bread for every week in the year from
only 100 square feet! Then we could literally raise our
own bread in our backyards. Sound impossible? Yields
close to this are already occurring in some parts of the
world. Our highest wheat yield to date is at the rate of
about 21 pounds per 100-square-foot bed, using about
10 inches of water for the whole season, with compost
we grew ourselves for fertilizer and a small amount of
purchased organic fertilizer. The Zulus in South Africa
use a technique similar to the GROW BIOINTENSIVE
method and grow grains with natural rainfall. See what
you can do! Let us know if you get to 26 pounds—and
tell us how you do it!
When planning your garden, remember to look closely
at all the factors involved. For example, sesame seeds are
very high in nutrition, but they usually have low yields
(compared with other protein crops), are somewhat
diHcult to harvest, and exhaust the soil. So on a per-
square-foot, sustainable-nutrition yield basis, sesame
seeds are not particularly superior to other protein
brent
(Brent)
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