nuggdigger
09-15-2006, 06:13 AM
The three sisters: They'll grow on you
Vegetable gardeners have long observed that many plants grow better when planted with companions then each individual plant would do if grown alone. The classic example of this is the legendary "three sisters"- corn, pole beans, and either pumpkins or squash. This trio is one of the easiest and most satisfying to grow.
To try them in your garden, in spring, prepare the soil by adding fish scraps or wood ash to increase fertility, if desired. When the danger of frost has passed, plant six kernels of corn an inch deep and about ten inches apart in a circle about two feet in diameter. As the corn grows, mound up the soil around the base of the stalks until a hill about a foot high and three feet wide is formed. When the corn is about five inches tall, plant four bean seeds, evenly spaced, around each stalk. About a week later, plant six squash seeds, evenly spaced, around the perimeter of the mound.
Each of the sisters contributes something to the planting. As older sisters often do, the corn offers the beans the needed support. The beans, the giving sister, pull nitrogen from the air and bring it to the soil for the benefit of all three. As the beans grow through the tangle of squash vines and wind thier way up the cornstalks into the sunlight, they hold the sisters close together. The large leaves of the sprawling squash protect the threesome by creating living mulch that covers the soil, keeping it cool and moist and preventing weeds. The prickly squash leaves also keep away racoons. which don't like to step on them. Together, the sisters, provide a balanced diet from a single planting:)
(George and Becky Lohmiller, from The Old Farmer's Almanac 2005)
"By the time European settlers arrived in America in the early 1600's, the Iroquois had been growing the' three sisters' for over three centuries. The vegetable trio sustained the Native Americans both physically and spiritually. In legend, the plants were a gift from the gods, always to be grown together, eaten together, and celebrated together."
peace
Vegetable gardeners have long observed that many plants grow better when planted with companions then each individual plant would do if grown alone. The classic example of this is the legendary "three sisters"- corn, pole beans, and either pumpkins or squash. This trio is one of the easiest and most satisfying to grow.
To try them in your garden, in spring, prepare the soil by adding fish scraps or wood ash to increase fertility, if desired. When the danger of frost has passed, plant six kernels of corn an inch deep and about ten inches apart in a circle about two feet in diameter. As the corn grows, mound up the soil around the base of the stalks until a hill about a foot high and three feet wide is formed. When the corn is about five inches tall, plant four bean seeds, evenly spaced, around each stalk. About a week later, plant six squash seeds, evenly spaced, around the perimeter of the mound.
Each of the sisters contributes something to the planting. As older sisters often do, the corn offers the beans the needed support. The beans, the giving sister, pull nitrogen from the air and bring it to the soil for the benefit of all three. As the beans grow through the tangle of squash vines and wind thier way up the cornstalks into the sunlight, they hold the sisters close together. The large leaves of the sprawling squash protect the threesome by creating living mulch that covers the soil, keeping it cool and moist and preventing weeds. The prickly squash leaves also keep away racoons. which don't like to step on them. Together, the sisters, provide a balanced diet from a single planting:)
(George and Becky Lohmiller, from The Old Farmer's Almanac 2005)
"By the time European settlers arrived in America in the early 1600's, the Iroquois had been growing the' three sisters' for over three centuries. The vegetable trio sustained the Native Americans both physically and spiritually. In legend, the plants were a gift from the gods, always to be grown together, eaten together, and celebrated together."
peace