Runner beans go rampant in the Summer, spreading tall and wide (as I found out when I didn’t secure them properly!) and because of this they are also really greedy, hungry plants. This year on our new plot we’ve worked to give them a head start using a trenching method to get the soil in the beds ready to nourish our beans for a super productive harvest. Come back to me at the end of July when I’m sick of the sight of them and have a freezer full and I might tell you I won’t do this again!!

Making a Runner Bean Trench

It is SUPER easy to make a runner bean trench and providing your soil isn’t still frozen where you are then it’s a nice easy job to do for February. Here’s three simple steps to making your trench.

First if you want a nice neat trench you can mark out the area you want to dig in using string and posts but we went by hand for this one. You’ll need a trench around 2ft deep and 1-2ft wide depending how you are planning on setting out your beans. We have two trenches one on either side of the bed so we went with a one foot wide trench.

Also, if you have dense clay soil you might want to just loosen the bottom of your trench to stop it compacting. In Norfolk ours is quite sandy and loose so we skipped this step

Next, add kitchen waste into the trench and mix in some chicken poop. (We used about half a box of this one). Just a quick note, I wouldn’t use whole egg shells or any cardboard in the trench as it takes such a long time to break down….pop that in your compost instead. We went through after we’d dumped it in and picked the eggs and any cardboard tubes or egg boxes out, (NICE!!)

Finally, Simply fill your trench back in and if you didn’t mark out the trench in the beginning just pop some markers in so you know where it is come planting time and then scatter some more Chicken Manure on top.

TOP TIP!! If you have trouble with Foxes or Rats you might want to cover this after you’re done, otherwise you are going to have a battle on your hands to keep them out!

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