experiments in the garden

I love to experiment with my food plants. This year I decided to thin the apples from wild trees that are at the edges of my garden to see if the remaining apples would benefit from more nutrients and water (although water has not been a problem this season!!!). I think it is making a difference, but time will tell.
The second experiment deals with green bean seeds. I planted two 6 foot rows of (1) seed that was commercially purchased for the 2014 season) and (2) seed that I hand collected last year (2017) from my garden. The hand collected seed is doing better with 100 % germination, while the 2014 seed is only about 60 %. Both were using Provider variety. Of course, it's possible that the storage of the 2014 seed wasn't optimum during the four years that I kept it.
Another experiment that I have going is planting sweet corn in a 4' X 6' raised bed. I don't have the space needed to grow a huge block of corn, even though I know it is recommended. My planting has four rows. I planted the seeds about 6 inches apart within the rows, using 3 seeds per hole. I now have several ears filling out from this experiment. I planted the 6' rows in a west/east direction, as our prevailing wind is from the west. They ears aren't quite mature enough to eat, but they are doing nicely. If things got "tight" I could plant more beds with corn, and together with legumes (beans, peas, etc.) it would offer a complete protein, especially if I didn't have animal to satisfy that nutrition.
I've also done 5 varieties of potatoes again this year, and the harvest so far has been great. I have 5 of the 4 X 6' beds with potatoes as I am sharing with another grower...my veggies (what they specifically wanted) for their home grown meat products. Last year I posted the harvest amounts, and will try to do it again this year for the potatoes.
Do the rest of you create your own experiments either with how things are grown, or with new varieties?