Terra Alta's Bio-Intensive Market Garden: Growing Soil, Food & Community in Portugal

Terra Alta started off as an abandoned piece of land with clay-heavy soil, making it a difficult task to create garden beds to grow food. It took years of hard work and building soil to get to where we are today: a thriving garden filled with all sorts of vegetables, herbs and even some fruits. As the seasons come and go, so does the work in the garden. From spring to autumn crew members and students feed the kitchen garden with compost, plants, amendments and lots of loving care. In the winter the garden rests, allowing organic matter to decompose and green manure to fix nitrogen into the soil.

So what is the method we use and why do we use it? Here are some of the most common questions answered for you.

What is bio-intensive gardening?

Bio-intensive gardening is a method of growing food using techniques that build thriving, healthy soil over time. This method emphasises building healthy soil through adding natural soil preparations, compost and using companion planting, as well as close plant spacing for maximum use of space.

At Terra Alta, our bio-intensive kitchen garden feeds around 240 students and crew members throughout the summer, serving almost 1000 healthy, fresh meals each course season. 

It also acts as a living classroom, where students learn through guided hands-on activities. Each group of students complete a set of tasks giving them a holistic overview of what it takes to grow food using the bio-intensive method. These tasks include weed management, pest and disease control, harvesting, bed preparation, soil amendment, plant nursery care, and planting for future harvest.

How Bio-intensive Market Gardening differs from Industrial Agriculture

Industrial agriculture depends on large machinery, chemical inputs, and the production of monocultural landscapes, all of which lead to soil depletion and ecosystem degradation and eventual ecosystem collapse. Contrary to this, bio-intensive market gardening is human-scale and focusses strongly on building soil health to create abundant harvests as well as resilient landscapes. Putting soil health first means long-term fertility and nutrient-rich foods, restoring both landscape and human health.

What We Grow in Terra Alta

Depending on the season, we grow a mixture of leafy greens, root crops, legumes, brassicas, tomatoes, herbs, pumpkins, and staple vegetables such as eggplants, courgettes, and potatoes. Each crop is carefully chosen to create delicious, healthy recipes for students and crew members, as well as to support soil health and create ecological balance. Diversity is key!

Regenerative Culture

Here at Terra Alta, we are deeply committed to regenerative culture, both on the land as well as in our inner landscapes. Through bio-intensive gardening, we demonstrate that it is possible to grow food abundantly and responsibly, restoring ecosystems while meeting human needs. If you are curious to experience this first hand, join one of our Permaculture Design Courses and get your hands in the soil! All photos in thie blog post were taken by Anjou Vartmann