ÉPISODE 1 : Visite du plein champ d'une microferme maraîchère

What does a thriving bio-intensive microfarm look like at peak season? Step inside our market garden in the south of France and see how we grow on less than 5,000 m² — without a tractor. Episode 1 of a series taking you through the Jardins de la Valette during a full growing season of bio-intensive market gardening. Our farm: Les Jardins de la Valette is a small-scale market garden located in Aveyron, France, operating since 2012. On less than 5,000 m² (just over 1 acre), we use bio-intensive growing methods on permanent raised beds — a standardized, optimized system rooted in certified organic practice. Our channel: This channel is dedicated to sharing our bio-intensive market gardening methods, season by season. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ USEFUL LINKS: TRAINING PROGRAMS https://www.lesjardinsdelavalette.com... WEBSITE https://www.lesjardinsdelavalette.com... FACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?... INSTAGRAM   / lesjardinsdelavalette   ___________________________________________________ The Story of Jardins de la Valette Les Jardins de la Valette was born in 2012 on my grandparents' land in a small village in the south of France. I didn't come from a farming background — my grandparents were farmers, but I studied electrical engineering. At some point I felt a deep pull back to the earth, and I followed it. At 25, I went back to school — first studying nursery work, then traveling and working on farms across Australia and New Zealand, where I discovered permaculture and the writings of Eliot Coleman, the pioneer who brought bio-intensive growing to a wide audience. After that, I pursued horticultural studies, and during my training I had the chance to do an internship at Les Jardins de la Grelinette in Québec, Canada — in 2010. __________________________________________________________________________________________________ Bio-Intensive Market Gardening on a Small Scale This method draws its inspiration from 19th-century French market gardeners. If you had to sum it up in one sentence: "Grow on less land — and grow more." The core idea is to farm a smaller footprint than most conventional growers, but to cultivate it with remarkable intensity. Because the bio-intensive system doesn't rely on a tractor, every square meter can be used productively, and yields per m² increase dramatically. Heavy applications of compost — echoing those same 19th-century growers — further boost productivity. Every inch of available space is put to work throughout the season, guided by a carefully planned crop schedule drawn up each year. To maximize efficiency, the garden is divided into identical blocks that rotate on a 7-year cycle. Each block is subdivided into permanent 75 cm-wide beds — 126 beds of 20 m each, totaling just under 5,000 m² at Jardins de la Valette. Soil work is done exclusively at the surface — no deeper than 8 cm — to protect soil biology and let earthworms do the heavy lifting. To prepare beds, we use a rotary harrow on a walk-behind tractor (the only mechanized tool on the farm). Because the beds are permanent, we never walk on them, preserving their structure at all times. Massive organic matter inputs — up to 100 tonnes per hectare of compost — maintain and build soil fertility over the long term. All other tasks (weeding, harvesting…) are done by hand. "By hand" might sound old-fashioned, but it's anything but: over the past decade, a new generation of highly effective hand tools has emerged — wheel hoes, electric micro-cultivators, and more. A great deal of thought and attention goes into every daily task, always looking for ways to improve and optimize. This system — brought back into the spotlight by Eliot Coleman and Jean-Martin Fortier, co-founder of Les Jardins de la Grelinette — is an ecologically sound model that never loses sight of profitability and production goals. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Want to discover more about our microfarm and how we grow? 👉 https://www.lesjardinsdelavalette.com... If you enjoyed this video, hit the like button and subscribe — and ring the bell so you never miss a new episode 🔔