THREE SISTERS

[3forfree]

I planted three mounds of 'three sisters' this year and as things started to grow, everything looked real good. Then the winter squash took over. These things are as big as my pumpkin plants, and sprawling just as long. I can't believe how big these plants have gotten. They're supposed to be a ground cover between the mounds, and now they're covering half the garden. I'm ready to get the hoe's out and start cutting.

 

[Arielle2]

Hey Jerry cardboard has lots of uses. I do use it where a weed got started and is VERY invasive. Figure smothering is my last ditch effort as herbicides are not an option. Will loose a few daylilys but I have other plots of those to replant.

Last year was a hard year for many reasons, this year better. Used more types of mulch to keep down weeds between rows and around the plants.

Son discovered how well a hoe chops weeds lickty split. His new favorite tool.

ps. I havent checked the mulberries for a while, but dang they grow fast. Have the fencing around them to keep the deer off. And discovered a beautiful specimen at the middle school track...planning a little raid in the spring.... might be different than those you sent me.

 

[Fluffnpuff]

I've done an organic 3 sisters garden for the last 4 years and have gotten very good results. I've never had a problem with corn getting overwhelmed but maybe that's due to the variation i use.

The above picture is a pic i took 2 weeks ago. It's a cross section of 1 corn row with pole beans in between the corns stalks, a row of winter squash/pumpkins, and then another row of corn/pole beans. I repeat this pattern throughout the garden.

I don't plant in mounds but rows. I plant the corn and winter squash/pumpkins at the same time in mid May but leave several feet in between the rows. I plant the beans when the corn is 5-6 inches tall and put 3-4 beans between each stalk but since young beans are a rabbit magnet i rarely have a case where the weight from beans break off the corn stalks.

The corn i plant are all old heirlooms like bloody butcher, stowells evergreen, country gentleman, howling mob, ect. Those types of corn grow tall stalks which may make them more viable for a 3 sisters garden as opposed to corn varieties with short stalks like mariah.

I agree with the previous comment that a 3 sisters was probably not geared towards towards eating fresh produce during mid summer. Most of the food i grow in this method is saved for consumption later in the year. Although i do eat a little corn in the fresh "milk stage", most of it i let harden to make homemade cornmeal out of. I similarly let the beans go into "shelly stage" and store them for chilli. Even most of the pumpkins and winter squash i store for use months later.

 

[Fluffnpuff]

I have been working on changing the taste buds of my family by decreasing the amt of sugar in their foods ( making homemade yogurt or plain and adding our own amt of sweet; and new recipes using less sugar) so I think we are ready for the " old fashioned" corns.

Our society is definitely addicted to sugar. I'm also trying to convince certain family members that everything you eat shouldn't be like a bag of sugar exploding in your mouth. I have an uncle that refuses to eat heirloom sweet corn because it isn't super sweet. Last year i gave him some howling mob and stowells evergreen ears and he garbaged canned them after a few bites. Earlier this summer he asked if i was going to plant any edible corn this year.

My favorite heirloom corn to eat fresh is pencil cob. Most seed companies relegate its use to being solely for cornmeal but i like the taste. It doesn't have any sweetness to it but has a salty taste almost like it was coated in salted butter. I grew it for the fist time last year and i'm hoping that unique flavor wasn't some sort of rare fluke. I planted more this summer but it hasn't matured yet.

I have a question for other gardeners trying a 3 sisters method. What types of pole beans have you found that work well or alternatively is their any type that's best to avoid? While i've experimented with a bunch of different heirloom corn/pumpkins/winter squash i've only tried 2 types of pole beans. I use purple podded pole beans and rattlesnake pole beans. Both work ok for me, but the main reason i grow them is because they are easy to spot due to their purple color.

 

[Fluffnpuff]

I am amazed at how tall the left rows of corn are! When did you plant? I cannot plant before late May early June where I live

Did you stay with your tried and trues this year? Looks absolutely great!

I planted all the corn within 3 days of each other. The reason the ones on the far left are bigger is because they are Cherokee flour corn with is supposed to get 15 ft tall. I planted my corn around may 6th. Normally you need to wait until may 14 at my location to plant corn but the 10 day weather forecast at that time had all the nights around 50 degrees so I planted early and gambled I wouldn't have frostbite.

I planted blue hopi as well though not in my 3 sisters plot. I ran out of room in it and had to do the rest of the corn elsewhere.


I didn't completely go with the "tried and true" this year. Earlier in the year I had a friend give me a bunch of corn seed as a birthday present so I planted them to not come off as ungratefull. The varieties I have planted this year are Cherokee flour, blue hopi, hookers sweet blue, jerico twin, candy corn, allure corn, honey and cream, luscious corn, and serendipity. I'm aware the modern hybrids won't get as tall as what I normally plant but to compensate I picked out pole beans that don't get very big such as Cherokee cornfield bean, trail of tears bean, ect.

 

[lazy gardener]

I'm guessing it's chopped corn cob. My guess is it's very expensive. I'd suggest as an alternative that you look up a video titled Back to Eden. It's a natural approach using chipped trees as a deep mulch.

 

[Fluffnpuff]

Wow !!!

What did you make with them? Or did they go into storage?

Eating some fresh and others go into storage. As for the recipe I use with the cowpeas it is Moroccan style cowpea dish. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Morocc...h&event10=1&e7=Home Page&soid=sr_results_p1i1


I do have one severe issue with the garden. Normally I don't have a problem with chickens damaging the garden, but I made the mistake of ordering 4 Egyptian fayoumis chicks in spring. They are garden eating machines. While the rest of the flock pretty much ignores it, those 4 have eaten about 30 winter squash and now they've moved on to the cowpeas . If they pull this trick next year, i'll be eating them.

 

[Fluffnpuff]

A little update on my experiments with cornmeal: I went ahead and bought an old fashioned sifter from a Mennonite store and haven't looked back. Sifting out the "bran" makes the cornmeal way better. Plus my chickens love them.

Of the types of corn that I've grown and made cornmeal from, the Cherokee Flour Corn is by far my favorite. Definitely be growing it again next summer.

 

[Arielle]

Lol. They maybe better foragers than the others. Definitely a breed that would interest ME.

 

[Arielle]

A little update on my experiments with cornmeal:  I went ahead and bought an old fashioned sifter from a Mennonite store and haven't looked back.  Sifting out the "bran" makes the cornmeal way better.   Plus my chickens love them.

Of the types of corn that I've grown and made cornmeal from, the Cherokee Flour Corn is by far my favorite.  Definitely be growing it again next summer.

Remind me. Where did you get your seed??

And it looks like the sifter is a must-have!