Grid farming is our primary growing method and the first research effort by the Balanced Agriculture Initiative. Raised bed gardening is recorded as early as the 1700’s in France, and traditional agriculture methods include techniques for bed preparation, mulched beds, etc. Various seeders and planters have been developed for diverse systems of farm row systems and garden beds. Everyone who attempts to profitably grow food has the following considerations:
- Soil composition.
- Mineral content.
- Humus content.
- Microbial balance.
- Sand vs. clay.
- Nitrogen.
- Drainage.
- Crop Density.
- Water requirements / conservation.
- Growing season(s), number and length.
- Weed management.
- Pest management.
- Labor
Additionally, grid farming includes consideration of interplanting species, organic compliance, automation constraint planning, net energy consumption, scalability, and net return on investment. The present day features of our grid farming model include:
Raised bed planting grids. Soil is mechanically organized into 8’x4’ x 6 or 12 inch deep beds. Soil composition is growing soil, 50% sterile dirt (sandy/silty) & 50% organic compost. Beds are framed with earthen bricks, metal, or a specially treated wood.
Space planning is as follows: 750 beds per acre, 375 per half-acre, 75 per 1/10th acre, 15 beds per 1/50th acre.
With cold frames, grow 365 days a year.
- Staggered harvesting, as frequently as a harvest per week.
- Rotate crops programmatically. The grid farm is planned and planted so that different beds rotate through the following stages at different times: Preparing, planting, cultivating, harvesting. The goal is to harvest a diverse crop every week of the year. Also, long term crop rotation can be planned on a bed by bed basis.
- Interplant beneficial / synergistic crops. Beds may be planted with co-operative crop species in various patterns and planting strategies. This reduces insect depredation and disease communication.
- Beds that develop a biological or weed problem can be sterilized using flame.
- Plant from 1 to 16 plants per sq. ft. (e.g. 1 tomato plant, four potatoes, nine radishes, or 16 carrots).
- Individual irrigation control for each 8’x4’ grid. Irrigation is PVC drip irrigation laid out as part of the 8’x4’ square grid; water flow is controlled on a per bed basis.
- Insects are controlled using beneficial arthropods such as ladybugs, lace wings, spiders, and mantises.
- The only soil amendment is compost or earthworm castings.
- The perimeter of each acre or planting area is planted with marigolds and nasturtiums. This provides a perimeter barrier to certain species of insects. Internally, each farm kit will host its own population of beneficial insects. Onions and garlic should be dispersed throughout the growing beds.
- Beds have optional hoop / cold frame covers. These are placed or removed on a bed by bed basis. Rows can be entirely or partially covered. This is useful for extended season growing and seedling development.
- No tilling/total soil control.
Our grid farming system is open-source, and establishes uniqueness in its scalability, and its primary design principle as applied to agriculture.
Grid farming operates on the following design principle: Wherever possible, choose mechanical rather than chemical intervention.
This principle has already been proven to be enormously effective in bio-intensive gardening and commercial greenhouses. Grid farming simply extends this level of control to the open agricultural field.
In general, grid farming yields more food and the food is of higher quality when compared to conventional farming or current organic row farming. On an annual basis it costs less and is more economically stable. Compared to traditional row farming, grid farming:
- Requires a higher per acre capitalization than row farming but costs significantly less than the cost of greenhouses with comparable yield. There is also a large cost savings each season in both crop inputs and operating expenses. Further, the capitalization costs are offset by the fact that the farm does not need to purchase heavy equipment or tractors. The farmer trades an increase in onetime capital expenses for a reduction in ongoing operating expenses and crop inputs.
- No regular tilling or heavy equipment fuel costs. Power consumed is primarily electricity which can be produced on location using solar, wind, gasification, and anaerobic digestion (biogas).
- Labor is year-round not seasonal. It is skilled not unskilled. Headcount is smaller. Labor is more productive due to reduced area / increased plant density.
- Seed use is optimized, plant thinning is almost eliminated.
- No expensive crop inputs that sink below the plantable surface every year. Any OMRI approved organic inputs that are used are minimized, calculated, and used on a per bed basis not a per acre basis.
- Grid farming is digital. Granular control of crops means improved succession planting and crop rotation, improving profit, and reducing waste.
- Five times higher yield than conventional row farming in the same space.
- Wastes less water due to plant density / reduced area, and built in drip irrigation with per bed control.
- Organic quality and price.
- Polycultural not monocultural. This reduces vulnerability to pests and disease.
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