Long-time subscriber Chuck Angier is an innovative guy who runs Angier Agri-Services, Sandy Level, Va., an online seller of garden supplements.  Chuck's been working in ag for 50 years. He tests all products himself and all photos on his website were taken in his garden.  He even does the website himself and warns visitors, "I don't know squat about designing websites, so get used to it!"  (www.angierag.com; ph 434-688-2208).

Anyway, a couple of Chuck's gardening ideas recently caught my eye.  The first one was the idea of "being the first in your neighborhood to have fresh sweet corn" by starting corn plants inside the same way you might start tomato or pepper plants.  He starts several flats of corn a few weeks before he can get into the garden, then transplants them when they get to be a couple inches tall.  "Some people call it cheating, but I call it smart," says Chuck, who likes being the first to have fresh corn in early summer.  He says corn is more resistant to frost than most people think.  "At first my gardening buddies had great fun at my expense, but now they're all doing it."

The second idea Chuck passed along is a simple way to make trellises out of 16-ft. long cattle panels. He staples the ends to chunks of 4 by 4's and then inserts them into cement blocks. He sets them up so they're about 5 1/2 ft. tall at the peak. Cucumbers and beans hang down inside, making them easy to pick.  At the end of the season, he can easily stack the trellises alongside the garden.