– Tom Bartels has been enjoying the process.

Not only is it personally satisfying to take what was once a seldom-used, water hungry lawn and transform it into a lush garden, but Bartels also values the reactions of those who “happen” upon what is now known as the “Smiley Garden.”

“There is nothing as natural as seeing the connection between an unsuspecting passerby who sees a garden coming to life,” said Bartels, who is known in town for launching or at least being part of the instigating team behind progressive efforts such as The Abbey Theatre and Good Dirt Radio. “It’s universal. We have an inherent connection with food and growth. Many of us don’t get to see it enough.”

The miracle of nature is now very evident at the Smiley Garden, located along East Third Ave. on the east side of the historic Smiley Building. A model for sustainability, the Smiley Building is owned by Charles Shaw and his wife Lisa Bodwalk. Simply, they sought to put the expansive lawn to better use, and Bartels, who has been small-scale farming on his property south of town, took on the project.

“Local food, grown naturally, makes sense on all kinds of levels,” said Bartels, citing personal health, community involvement and less impact on the environment from long-distance food transport. “Growing local food is a scalable behavior that makes sense for all of us to be involved with in one way or another.”

To create the Smiley Garden Bartels turned to an ancient farming practice that he personally began utilizing some five years ago: “biointensive gardening.” Its origins date back some 4,000 years to farmers in China, where small-scale farming was both necessary and productive.

As noted on the “Grow Biointensive” web site (growbiointensive.org), one study of 15 countries, primarily in Asia and Africa, found that per-acre output on small farms can be as much as four to five times higher than on large ones. Russia, over the years, has often produced 30 to 50 percent of its food on household plots representing as little as 3 percent to 5 percent of all Russian farmland. The productivity of small-scale farms is also being widely recognized by agricultural economists who call it the “inverse relationship between farm size and productivity.”

“The general process of present day biointensive comes from a mix of French intensive and biodynamic techniques designed by Rudolf Steiner in the 1920s,” said Bartels. “Alan Chadwick championed it in the U.S. around the 1960s, and John Jeavons, one of his students, has continued the process on his research farms in California for more than 35 years. He shares the results of his research with interested farmers around the world.”

Though he had biointensive gardening experience, Bartels recognized that the challenge of the Smiley Garden warranted additional training. Bartels traveled to Willits, Calif., for an intensive three-day workshop with Jeavons.

According to Bartels, the process shuns the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, and can be distilled to a few central principles, including, double-dug, raised beds; composting; intensive plant spacing; seedling propagation; and companion planting. Plus, it is based on use of human energy.

“If followed correctly the steps keep improving the soil each year while producing an abundance in a small space,” he explained. “It’s a more holistic, systemic approach than industrial farming techniques and can be readily scaled to different landscapes.”

Grow Biointensive maintains that these techniques make it possible to grow food using 67 to 88 percent less water; 50 to 100 percent less fertilizer; and 99 percent less energy than commercial agriculture, while using a fraction of the resources.

The organization also notes that the techniques can produce two to six times more food; build the soil up to 60 times faster than in nature, if properly used; and reduce by half or more the amount of land needed. As the Smiley Garden is in its infancy, time will tell whether these statistics prove true in Durango.

The Smiley Garden is approximately 3,000 square feet and contains 29 raised beds featuring a proverbial cornucopia of vegetables, ranging from every type of salad ingredient to more “adventurous” offerings such as Swiss Chard and Malabar Spinach.

And this garden exists not just to make a statement and for visual enjoyment. The Smiley Garden is feeding the community. Every Wednesday, from 3:30 to sell-out, the Smiley Garden Farm Stand opens to the public. Whatever is ripe is offered for sale, with proceeds essentially going back into the garden – its maintenance and propagation for next season. Thus far, Shaw and Bodwalk have underwritten the costs associated with the garden project

As Shaw notes, “The challenge is to make it both biologically and financially sustainable.”