French intensive gardening

"Maraîchers" or market gardeners employed techniques of fermenting manure to warm the soil, building stone walls to keep the wind at bay, and planting crops together to produce high yields.

[2] The work of two French market gardeners, Moreau and Daverne, who wrote their "Manuel pratique de la culture maraîchère de Paris" in 1845, often referred to as "La Culture Maraîchère," in which they recorded their knowledge of the gardening techniques, is used as reference for how the technique was traditionally practiced.

"[5] Then, in the late 1960s and early 1970s that the French intensive method made its way to the United States, helped primarily by gardeners Alan Chadwick and John Jeavons.

[4] Jeavons expanded on Chadwick's work by writing the book "How to Grow More Vegetables," which adapted the French intensive method into a consumable and understandable medium for the American public.

[4] Optimal spacing is achieved when the mature plants have their leaves barely brushing each other, creating a micro-canopy protecting the soil and keeping unwanted weeds at bay.

Companies such as SPIN, which stands for Small Plot INtensive, sell home growers manuals and how-to guides on producing for market.