[Paul Canning]

Why?

This is something I've not seen before and just wondered what he's up to, of course if he'd been there today I'd have asked 

I suspect after having a search on the forums that it's for either beans or garlic but surely it's too late to do this for the latter and the fact there's a pair of large poles either end makes me think the former but I'd be interested in peoples thoughts and if they do this?

[mumofstig]

That's easy.....it's a bean trench

Start them anytime from now, and carry on filling them until spring

When I've sorted out where the beans are going...I will dig one 

[savbo]

or he's about to rub out a tall thin enemy...

[gavinjconway]

Almost anything can be grown after the trench has matured... very quick and easy way to make compost this way. See some sites


<sub>I Googled and have loads of info on it.

http://organicgardening.about.com/od/compost/a/trenchcompost.htm

http://www.adrians.utvinternet.com/GoodEarth/compost.htm</sub>

[gavinjconway]

I like the pumpkin in the background..

[Goldfinger]

What else can be planted after doing this, looks also like a kind of 'double digging'??

An old plotter used to do this because he didn't have space for compost bins, so anything green/compostable was chucked in a trench and the soil thrown forward etc.

Mind you, I was told his beds were knee to thigh high by the time he was done.
Sadly, he's passed on now. 

[snowdrops]

or he's about to rub out a tall thin enemy...

Tell us are you tall & thin?

[Paul Canning]

I like the pumpkin in the background..

Yep its a good one, can't believe it's not been nicked to be honest!! He had 2 nicked last year :-(

[Paul Canning]

cheers all for the replies, thought it must be for beans.

[Paul Canning]

Almost anything can be grown after the trench has matured... very quick and easy way to make compost this way. See some sites


<sub>I Googled and have loads of info on it.

http://organicgardening.about.com/od/compost/a/trenchcompost.htm

http://www.adrians.utvinternet.com/GoodEarth/compost.htm</sub>

Interesting :-)

[Babstreefern]

Basically, he's putting in the "goodness", and its quicker and easier than to compost.  If you've grown beans over the year, then you dig them into the ground - puts nitogren in - you then fill the trench back in with the soil and hey presto.

[shokkyy]

Trouble is I've always got spud peelings in my kitchen compost bin, and I'm not sure I really want to stick that under my runner beans in case it starts sprouting spuds.

[gavinjconway]

Peelings shouldnt be a problem - should they? I've never had a spud grow from my compost..

[shokkyy]

Well I've never tried it personally, but I have seen people on here saying they can grow spuds from peelings

[richyrich7]

Well I've never tried it personally, but I have seen people on here saying they can grow spuds from peelings

Yep pretty easy as long as the peeling has an eye it'll normally grow, they grow in my compost heap as it never gets hot enough to kill them.
I even tried an experiment one year with taking a core of potato with an eye in it and growing on in 3" pots in the greenhouse before planting into tubs, worked ok crop was a little later then normal though.

I've put peelings into a bean trench before as it's open I think the frost or air kills/dries the peelings out and they don't grow. All mine will be going into my bean trenches over this winter