Corn, Beans, and Squash
Last year while working on a farm in Virginia I learned about something I had never heard of before; planting the three sisters together.
Enjoy,
David Proctor
An Intercropping Method
by David Proctor
August 22, 2024
Urban Farm Lifestyle Magazine Published Weekly
When I went to the farm last year in Virginia, I wanted to learn about grazing cattle and building soil.
I did not go to particularly learn to garden but that was what was needed or at least my abilities to water and pull weeds.
Others were brought in who had much more knowledge and desire to help plant and care for the two gardens in place.
As planting proceeded a new term, at least for myself, was Three Sisters planting.
I had no idea what they were talking about but I soon learned that mounds were formed and corn was planted in the mounds.
The corn was not alone, squash and beans were planted with the corn.
Three Sister Planting note 1
The concept of planting these three together was for the beans (pole beans) to fix nitrogen from the air for the corn and squash.
The corn would act as a trellis for the beans to climb.
Then wait until the corn reaches six to twelve inches before planting the pole beans.
The squash (small-leaf summer or winter squash, but not pumpkin) will help provide ground cover to keep the weeds from growing.
The squash can be planted about a week after the beans.
I tried this concept on a few raised bed gardens that I planted this summer.
I was anxious to try and show others some of the garden concepts I had learned last year.
Keep in mind that I have not gardened since I was a little kid, and I have never gardened in an organic manner.
So how did it all turn out?
I pretty much failed!
The corn was planted in horse manure from the rescue and had not really been composted long enough.
I tried some organic amendments and the corn seemed to really take off until it started to fail.
The stalks started falling over and the ears of corn were underdeveloped and did not taste good.
The beans grew but I had planted too many corn seeds too close together and did not thin the corn out.
The squash grew but was overshadowed by too many corn plants.
I ended up with three dead sisters!
If it is any conciliation, all the corn I have seen in the fields this year has looked terrible.
Even the big commercial operations have had their problems and you can count on their heavy use of fertilizer and herbicides.
For a while, my corn looked so much better than any corn around until it didn’t.
What would I do differently?
Probably let the manure compost and mix in some worms to help it along.
I would plant more than one seed in a mound but space out more and thin if needed.
I am sure the native Americans that have planted this way for hundreds of years would just shake their heads at my mistakes.
But this is how you learn, by doing.
How It Is Supposed To Look note 2
Check It Out!
The Three Sisters of Indigenous American Agriculture Coin note 3
Quick Tip
Bibliography:
“Growing the 3 Sisters.” ANR Blogs, Official Blog of the UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County, 11 Dec. 2018, ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=25836.Accessed 17 Aug. 2024. https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=25836
Note 1
“The Three Sisters of Indigenous American Agriculture.” The Three Sisters of Indigenous American Agriculture | National Agricultural Library, National Agricultural Library U.S. Department of Agriculture, www.nal.usda.gov/collections/stories/three-sisters. Accessed 17 Aug. 2024.
https://www.nal.usda.gov/collections/stories/three-sisters
note 2 & 3 &4
Photo Credit www.ecoliteracy.org note
The Three Sisters: Corn, Beans, and Squash
Catherine Boeckmann loves nature, et al. “The Three Sisters: Corn, Beans, and Squash.” Almanac.Com, 23 July 2024, Accessed 17 Aug. 2024 www.almanac.com/content/three-sisters-corn-bean-and-squash.
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