The Cannon Hort plot practices two approaches to market gardening with very similar names: bioextensive and biointensive. These are not the same thing.

The bioextensive rotation is used throughout the Cannon Hort plots. It uses cover crops on half the available ground to manage weeds and supply fertility.

Within that bioextensive management scheme, a small part of the cash-crop ground is planted using biointensive methods. “Biointensive” is a system developed from French intensive gardening by Alan Chadwick and John Jeavons. It tries to maximize food production from small areas, using methods including deep (24”) hand tillage, close plant spacing, and generous applications of compost.