There are numerous ways to set up and organize your seeds in your garden. You might be limited by the planting method based on the space, time and other resources you have. Both the square foot and french intensive methods have their pros and cons so it's all about finding the one that's the best fit for you.

Square Foot Gardening

The Square Foot Method is a way of using the raised bed space as efficiently as possible. We have a 4'x4′ square box with twine dividing each square foot off. The best way to divide the box up is to use a simple wooden grid.

Each square can be divided even further for plants with closer spacing like radishes and carrots. Bigger plants like squash or cabbage take a full square while smaller produce is planted close together to create a mulch like covering for the soil preventing weed growth. Mel Bartholomew, the author of The All-New Square Foot Gardening Book, also uses a soil mix of one third peat moss, compost, and vermiculite. He says you should switch it out every year.

There are drawbacks to Square Foot Gardening. Like raised beds there are start up and maintenance costs. Not only the materials for the raised beds, but also the soil, which runs eight dollars per cubic foot.

The biggest issue with square foot gardening is that it does not give back to the land around  and it drains the nutrients from the raised bed with no long term return.

The French Intensive Method

I like this one because it uses the land and feeds it with loads of compost and aeration. It is very water conscious and also very productive. Like the Square Foot Method the plants are spaced so that the mature leaves barely touch leaving a vegetable mulch on top of the compost soil. Double digging came from this method where they turned over 24 inches of dirt for deep aeration.

A clever combination of raised beds and the French Intensive Method was developed by Alan Chadwick called the Biodynamic French Intensive System. He includes beds planted north to south for maximum sunlight. Slim walkways only inches wide allow the beds to keep the right temperature and foster a warm environment. Of all of the methods this one is the most labor intensive involving double dug beds slightly raised for good drainage and, most difficult of all, the ability to squat over your beds while planting.

Have you used square foot gardening or the french intensive methods for planting? Which one do you prefer?

Article & Photo Source: Homestead Revival