Bean Trench

First of all, I must apologise for the photo but there's nothing very exciting to see in a bean trench! Today I dug over the area where I am planning on growing my runner beans this year. It is an an area about 1.5 metres squared so I will most likely grow them around a circular wigwam instead of the double rows I used last year. I am hoping that the wigwam method will be a bit sturdier against the wind that rips through my garden.

I dug over and weeded the area and then dug out a strip across the width of the area and filled it with part rotted manure and fresh kitchen scraps. I then covered this up with the earth I'd dug out and then dug another strip and filled that with the same mix. I repeated this until the whole area had a good layer of manure and kitchen waste just under the surface of the soil. This will rot down over the next few weeks and then by the time I am ready to plant out my runner beans in May. I will also be planting out some sweetpeas mingled in with the runner beans to help attract plenty of lovely bees to my veg patch.