Three Sisters Method - The Miracle Trifecta!

[acemario]

This year we are trying something new in our garden. It is known as the "Three Sisters Garden." Supposedly, Native Americans used this method to ensure healthy and reliable crops each year.

What you do is plant several corn stalks (10 ft) in a line of a slightly (4 inch) raised mound. Once the corn has grown a few inches, you plant beans around the corn. Finally, you plant squash surrounding the corn and beans. The corn gives a nice support for the bean vines to grow up, and the beans give the corn stability. The squash's leaves allow the soil beneath to retain moisture easier and repels garden-eaters because of their spines.

Plus, if you are short on garden space, this is a great way to yield lots of produce from a small section!

From what I've read, these plants also compliment one another nutritionally. The corn is great for carbohydrates, dried beans are rich in protein, and the squash has many vitamins.




Check out these links for some more info:

http://blogs.cornell.edu/garden/get...isters-exploring-an-iroquois-garden/a-legend/
http://www.reneesgarden.com/articles/3sisters.html

Has anyone else tried this method?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Nice articles and good info. I'll mention that the corn they used was dent corn or field corn, harvested at the end of the season as dried, not eaten fresh. The beans were dried beans, harvested at the end of the season, and not eaten as green beans. The squash hey used were pumpkins or winter squash, harvested at the end of the season. They were not zucchini or summer squash, harvested daily.

I mention this because if you use sweet corn, beans for green beans, and zucchini or summer squash, you have to be in there a lot to harvest it. You can do damage to the squash, for instance, by trying to get to the beans to pick them. That's not a reason to not do it, just something to be aware if. I usually plant winter squash in with my sweet corn.

 

[wyoDreamer]

I was going to ask about this method - thanks for starting this thread.
I have a raised bed and was thinking of trying this in there.
Anyone see any problems with that idea - I would have to train the squash vines alittle bit, but maybe this is doable.

 

[acemario]

I was going to ask about this method - thanks for starting this thread.
I have a raised bed and was thinking of trying this in there.
Anyone see any problems with that idea - I would have to train the squash vines alittle bit, but maybe this is doable.

wyoDreamer, to be honest... I don't know! haha! This is the first year we are doing it... so it's a little experiment! It's always fun to try something new, I guess. My guess is that you would be fine... but I'm no expert... Has anyone else tried this method?

 

[fried green eggs]

I read the title on this thread and thought you were talking about horse names for the Ky. Derby this weekend

OH Well. Nice Article on how to for garden. If we get done building our newest chicken coop before it's too late to plant a garden for this year - I might try this.

 

[itsren]

Nice articles and good info. I'll mention that the corn they used was dent corn or field corn, harvested at the end of the season as dried, not eaten fresh. The beans were dried beans, harvested at the end of the season, and not eaten as green beans. The squash hey used were pumpkins or winter squash, harvested at the end of the season. They were not zucchini or summer squash, harvested daily.
I mention this because if you use sweet corn, beans for green beans, and zucchini or summer squash, you have to be in there a lot to harvest it. You can do damage to the squash, for instance, by trying to get to the beans to pick them. That's not a reason to not do it, just something to be aware if. I usually plant winter squash in with my sweet corn.

I have done this in the past with sweet corn, green beans and summer squash. Ridgerunner is correct - it makes harvesting difficult. I was able to get to my corn and summer squash easily enough, but I ended up having to compost my beans after I cut the corn stalks down. They were so entwined, I couldn't find them to harvest them. By the time I found them, they were thick and tough like seed beans.

 

[itsren]

I was going to ask about this method - thanks for starting this thread.
I have a raised bed and was thinking of trying this in there.
Anyone see any problems with that idea - I would have to train the squash vines alittle bit, but maybe this is doable.

I'll add to my above comment. My corn was not in a line. It was in a 4'x10' raised bed. I planted the corn using the square foot gardening method - one per square foot. The summer squash was on the outside corners. I was able to harvest the squash and the corn. I just couldn't reach in enough to find the beans.

 

[jamesbwood]

From the picts, it looks nice. You could landscape with that combo.

 

[locke2121]

The Three Sisters is a great tried and true method for growing alot of crops in a small place. Another great trick is to place a small fish in the bean hole, scrape some dirt over it, then plant the bean. Gives those nitrogen-loving bugger a great head start!

 

[daylily]

The fish works well for the corn as well Esp in the northern areas of the country where the growing season is so short!

But you see corn growing all over Maine Vermont and New Hampshire. For green beans the teepee poles work great! Our trees are so tall that it is hard to get enough sunlight in on the garden for a full six hours unless you have a huge clear cut area. Potatos work well here, Squash, both summer and winter, onions, herbs, and melons. Tomatoes are so iffy but good if you get hot hose plants to cart in the ground half grown! I want to grow bell peppers in all their colors but haven't had success yet. We cannot start planting until the beginning of june unless I want to plant them under plastic like the big farms do.

So I mostly stick to flowers, and get my fruit and vegess at the local market and roadside stands.Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries all grow wild so there is never problems with those.