Early in the year I double dug one of the plots where I planned to grow runner beans. The other one just had compost worked into the surface. I wondered which would grow the best crop.
So far the results have been dramatic. One batch of beans is looking lush and healthy.
Lots of beans are forming already.
The other is looking distinctly less healthy, and the poles are only sparsely covered.
Of course, it is the one that I double dug which has performed so poorly. Apparantly the compost is better added to the top few inches than burried deep in the soil! This experiment is not conclusive; I would need to carry it out several times in different conditions before I could be sure. However, I wil think twice before I go to all of this bother in the future! In the meantime I am looking forward to harvesting runner beans before too much longer.
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