When you plant beans in w/your corn, give the corn a chance to get about knee high or so B4 planting the beans. That gives the corn a chance to get some height to it B4 the beans come up.
I'm in Ohio - we have had some drought, not as bad as those further west, but bad enough. My corn was way short and ears only about half the size as normal, small but filled out.
I'm a youngin' so I'll admit I'm not experienced as most of you.
But, my gardening journey essentially starts about 4 years ago....
Bought a cherry tomato plant and cage, started in my front yard with clay soil. No bugs to worry about at all all bought from the garden center at Home Depot.
My second year Was also pretty bug free. Not only did I do the tomatoes from Home depot, I also grew run of the mill seeds we got at a grocery store. That's the year I discovered that Pumpkins take over EVERYTHING. Also grew Green Beans. I built my first raised bed out of lumber, 4' X 8'. It was late in the season, so I planted it entirely with Green beans. HUGE harvest. For those who don't know, with raised beds you can plant plants a lot closer, because the soil is more fertile and there is better drainage....I plant 1.5 To 2 times closer than the package says to do. So if you ever have extra lumber, you know what to do .
The following year I built the rest of my raised beds. now there is about 130 square feet, growing pretty much most of the different types of vegetables my family eats. All from an organic, heirloom, non-GMO, blablabla, all the good stuff seed bank. I'm still trying to learn through a try and fail method how it should all work that is, unless any of you can save me the pain of discovering something like...you should plant your corn at least 4 by 4 in order to have it fill up all the way (Too late for that...lol)
This year I'm pretty much doing what I did last year, except with improvements and efficiencies...I have also discovered that the bugs have decoded my garden (AKA, there eating stuff they didn't last year)...and even the deer has figured how to jump my plastic fence/trellis...So, I bought some sort of fish oil organicide, and that seems to somewhat do the trick. Unfortunately, because of other concerns, I didn't maintain my garden nearly as well as I did last year, and it's only when I went abroad did I realize how much I missed it....
one of the biggest thing I learned in a raised bed garden system, is try to minimize the border between different plants. Otherwise you'll just have lettuce stalks leaning on carrots, and onions falling down on peas....It will look like a big mess. Also, you can't do 3 sisters in a 3 by 8 foot area...lol.
The following year I am thinking of planting 2 dwarf trees...I don't suppose any of you can give me good advice on that?
Well let me start by saying you're doing a great job! That looks really nice! Do some online research on companion planting and square foot gardening, and you will learn LOADS! Especially square foot gardening for your raised beds. It's nice to see another "youngin" working the soil Keep up the good work!
You don't need to do raised beds to plant close. If you do the square foot gardening methods like WBF posted about, you can plant much closer than it says on the package. I plant my corn in rows that are 8" apart, and the plants in the rows are also 8" apart. I try to keep my rows no more than 4' wide, that way, it's still easy to work from either side.
I'm lucky in that I don't need a raised bed, but if I had your soil, I might think about it myself.
AHh, yes, south has gotten quite a bit more rain than up here around Balto.
You might be interested in the Mother Earth News Fair coming up in late September if you don't already know about it. I am REALLY excited to have so much knowledge in one place!