THREE SISTERS

[Fluffnpuff]

Another great idea! DH sez thanks for the reminder, he has a couple bare spots he wants to seed. We're making homemade spaghetti sauce tonight with his organic tomatoes, including one of my favorites - Brandywine! Yum.

Last year i planted hairy vetch from baker creek as a cover crop in my 3 sisters and got great results this summer. I'm planting more this year too but i wanted to experiment with clover and fava. My chickens won't eat vetch and neither can i. I thought clover could be something my chickens could enjoy and maybe i could get something edible out of favas.

 

[Fluffnpuff]

In regards to using green manure in a 3 sisters, this is a picture of how i do it. Not saying it's the best or even great, but i've gotten decent results doing it this way.




I harvested all the winter squash and pumpkins between the corn rows, mowed it down, broadcast the applicable cover crops, then finally tillered it in.

The corn that's left I'm letting harden to make cornmeal out of. I'll harvest the pole beans when they are firmly in the "shelly stage" to make soup and chili out them later in the year. Sometime next month I'll finish picking the remaining ears and beans. Once that is done, i cut down the corn stalks and begin putting fresh chicken manure in the strips the corn previously occupied.

 

[3forfree]

being this was the first year I did the "three sisters' it's been a failure for me. All I knew about it I read on the web, and didn't know that winter squash would take over the garden as much as it did. The beans never got a chance to grow as the squash leaves kept them in the shade and acted as an umbrella when it rained, and kept them dry. I have so much winter squash that it's grown outside of the garden, and is mixed in with the pumpkins. At one time I was tempted to drive my riding mower through the garden and cut down the squash so my other things could grow, but I didn't. This was the first time this garden was used, I made a lasagna compost last year, and it does work. Everything that I have planted has done well except the sisters, the corn is stunted, no beans, but the squash, omg.zuchini, tomatoes, block of sweet corn all did well. I'll try the sisters again next year but won't use winter squash, I'll put cukes or something else between the mounds.

 

[Chipper Chicken]

Don't feel bad, my other two sisters didn't work either. My squash seeds must have rotted,
And my one lone snap pea got lost.
Or maybe more correctly, unbeknownst to me until tonight, DH had planted the squash and beans I had INTENDED to use as the 3 sisters, somewhere else, TOGETHER! LOL! They are doing great, of course! Just not with my corn.
But, the point of this, and which I thank you for doing, is getting us, and ME thinking about it. One thing I've learned about gardening and plants is it hardly ever looks/works right the FIRST year!
Next year, armed with all the new knowledge we have been sharing, I will try again. And again. This is a great idea that needs a little fine tuning for varieties and conditions/environment , but it is a time tested fantastic method IMO!
And new soil is always a bugger the first year.

 

[Fluffnpuff]

I made my first batch of cornmeal from painted mountain corn yesterday. Here are the pics from various stages




This is the ground up cornmeal. I used a nutribullet blender with the flat blade attachment



And here is the finished product. Not the most appealing thing visually but it tastes great

 

[Papas Chickens]

I made my first batch of cornmeal from painted mountain corn yesterday. Here are the pics from various stages This is the ground up cornmeal. I used a nutribullet blender with the flat blade attachment And here is the finished product. Not the most appealing thing visually but it tastes great

Just give me some honey butter and im good to go lol. Looks great.

 

[Papas Chickens]

I finally have a summer squash plant growing lol took forever to come up, I have about 30 little zucchini and cucumber growing on there vines lol.

 

[Chipper Chicken]

I made my first batch of cornmeal from painted mountain corn yesterday. Here are the pics from various stages This is the ground up cornmeal. I used a nutribullet blender with the flat blade attachment And here is the finished product. Not the most appealing thing visually but it tastes great

NICE! That looks good! Those short stalks Sure do make pretty corn! I'm looking forward to sampling some Painted Mountain soon too! I usually add a cup or so of wheat flour to my cornbread, but I just discovered a Gluten free flour blend I have been trying. It made a perfect (to me, lol) loaf of bread for me last night, so I'm thinking I'll use it in the cornbread too. It's called Namaste Perfect Flour Blend, and if anyone decides to try it (website has a store locator) I ended up using the bread recipe off their website because, even tho it says on the label you can use it in place off wheat flour cup for cup in any recipe, that didn't work for me. Two lumps of very tasty baked dough later, I used the website for their version. THAT was GREAT. And no sluggish feeling like I get from wheat (I buy organic berries and grind my own, and it still bothers me. I do not have Celiac Disease, so I can still eat the sprouts and juice the wheatgrass, plus I'll raise fodder and fermented feed for the chicks with it when I FINALLY can get them, in March, I hope

 

[Chipper Chicken]

I finally have a summer squash plant growing lol took forever to come up, I have about 30 little zucchini and cucumber growing on there vines lol.

Did you plant with the corn? Oohhh, we need pictures, please!

 

[Papas Chickens]

Did you plant with the corn? Oohhh, we need pictures, please!

Lol ill take some pics when I get home in the mornin from work, its not the prettiest garden but it produces what u need. Oh and my sunflowers are getting tall.