Three Sisters Garden

10 years ago

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What is a Three Sisters Garden?

It is an ancient method of gardening using an intercropping system which grows corn, beans, and squash crops simultaneously in the same growing area that is typically a rounded mound of soil, often called a hill.

Corn is the oldest sister. She stands tall in the center.

Squash is the next sister. She grows over the mound, protecting her sisters from weeds and shades the soil from the sun with her leaves, keeping it cool and moist.

Beans are the third sister. She climbs through squash and then up corn to bind all together as she reaches for the sun. Beans help keep the soil fertile by coverting the sun's energy into nitrogen filled nodules that grow on its roots. As beans grow they use the stored nitrogen as food.

How do I grow a Three Sisters Garden?

In mid-Spring clear a sunny garden area of grasses, weeds, and large stones. The area should be roundish in shape and at least eight feet across. Cover the area with a few inches of compost or well rotted manure. Turn the compost in to loosen the ground and create a moisture retaining growing medium with increased fertility. Water it well. Check the growing area frequently over the next few weeks to remove any sprouted weeds.

In late-Spring sow about seven or eight corn seeds in the center of the growing circle, in a ring pattern, spaced out about six inches from each other. Plant the corn seeds an inch under the soil, firm the soil above by patting it down with the palm of your hand. Water the growing mound well. The corn will sprout and begin to grow in about two weeks.

After the corn has grown to about ten inches high, using a hoe or hand trowel, pull up some soil from the growing mound around the base of the corn stalks. The corn should not be buried entirely, it's upper half should be above the soil that has been mounded around it's stems. The corn will send roots into the mounded soil to hold it steady and upright in the wind.

After mounding soil around the base of the corn stalks sow about a dozen pole bean seeds in a ring pattern six inches outside the corn stalks. Push the bean seeds about an inch under the soil and firm the ground above them by patting it down with your hand. Water the growing mound well. The beans will usually begin to sprout in about 7-14 days.

About a week after the beans sprout, sow six or seven squash seeds in a ring about 12-15" outside the beans. Push the squash seeds about an inch under the soil and firm the ground above them by patting it down with your hand. The squash seeds will sprout in about a week.

As the corn grows the beans will begin to climb, you can help them early on by wrapping the bean vines around the corn stalks. The squash will begin to grow it's vines and the large squash leaves will soon cover the growing mound and shade its soil. On occasion help the squash continue to cover the mound by turning the ends of it's vines towards the center of the mound. Water the mound well during weeks where there has been little or no rain.

When can we harvest our Three Sister's Garden?

Corn may be harvested while in it's green corn stage, but tradtionally it is left to ripen and is harvested in Autumn. The cob is sun dried and stored for winter use. To harvest green corn observe the silky threads coming from the tops of the ears, when the silk is dry and a dark brown color the corn may be harvested. To remove an ear of corn, hold the stalk a few inches below the ear. Pull the tip of the ear toward the ground until it snaps off.

Beans may be eaten fresh or allowed to mature and dry on the vine. Fresh beans can be harvested when the pods are firm and crisp, but before the seeds within the pods have begun to swell. Pick beans in late morning after the night-dew has dried from the plants. This helps to prevent the spread of bacterias which can harm the plants. Pick the beans carefully to avoid bruising or snapping the growing vines. Bean plants will continue to flower and more bean pods will develop if they are harvested before bean seeds can mature.

Squash should be picked only after its skin has hardened thoroughly. Be careful to not damage or break off the stem of the squash...this can wound the squash and it will begin to rot. Cut the stem 3-4" from the fruit with a sharp knife. Allow the squash to sit in the sun for a few days to cure and the stem to dry. Store squash in a single layer and not touching each other, which can foster rot. Squash can last at least two months, depending on the variety.

Enjoy growing your Three Sisters Garden!

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Three sisters garden
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Hey everyone, I posted this on my profile at the end of june. Hopefully it can give some info to a novice or two. Corn is tasseling ! My corn has tassels in June in Idaho. YEAH BUDDY! For those of you who are interested I will cover some of my techniques. This year I choose the three sister method. This method of planting has been employed by native Americans for thousands of years and involves three crop varieties planted in poly-culture. The three varieties are corn, beans, and squash. This method came of years of trial and error from people who had to make sure the garden plot they planted produced as much as possible to feed them for the coming year. If correctly executed, this method can provide an excellent variety of vegetables to meet your nutritional needs. Here is what I planted and how my garden has performed so far: I choose two varieties of corn and early and late variety. Each mound has 6 corn plants 2 early and 4 late plants. Imagine a round hill, on one side of the hill you have three corn plants 1 early on the outside edge and 2 late more toward the inside so you have a triangle of plants, the same is repeated on the other side so the to early plants are farthest spaced from each other. This spaces out the demands on the soil and gives a longer more even harvest of corn. Now on the outside edge of the mound I planted an heirloom variety of scarlet runner beans. These beans came from Mexico from a group working to preserve a variety that has been handed down from pre-colonial times, just the right touch for my three sisters garden. Those mounds are in a grid pattern on 4 foot centers. Each four mounds completes a square and in the center of these squares goes your squash mound. In my squash mounds I planted: pumpkin (against my better judgment but the family really wanted it), acorn squash, cucumbers, green and yellow zucchini, and cantaloupe. The squash forms a dense matt across the floor of your garden to ensure no weeds can compete for nutrients and water. The corn provides shade for the squash and a support for the beans to grow on. The beans, being in the legume family, fix nitrogen in their roots which fertilize the corn. The beans also bind the corn to each other so none blow over in Idahos high winds. And that is the three sisters gardening method...The Indians threw a whole fish at the bottom of every mound but Ill tell you what I did for mine. In my previous posts you might have read that I dug in manure and compost into my new garden plot...all by hand...the shovel and I got to be good friends that week. That work set the foundation for a healthy, happy garden. So in went the seeds and a week or so later the happy little guys were raising their leaves up to the sun and my beaming smiles. Another week or so went by and now I took a gallon of blackstrap molasses, watered down with about 16 quarts of water and watered all the seedlings with that black mess, and boy did they love it. Another two weeks went by and this time I broadcast out a healthy amount of ironite (iron sulfate I believe) and Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate). I waited another week and in went some more Epsom salts and now the smelly stuff....Alaskan fish emulsion. Those of you familiar with changing fish tank water will know the smell of this stuff....its brown, about the thickness of maple syrup but not nearly as appealing. The fish goo happened yesterday. I saw those tassels on the corn and just couldnt help myself the organic fertilizer had to come out. Other garden info: Around the three sisters garden I planted a row of marigolds to contain the bugs, right behind those I planted a mixed row of three varieties of onions and three types of garlic. This is the defense against insects...between the marigolds and the onion/garlics these plantings form a formidable barrier, most bugs just keep on walking. On the north side of the three sisters garden I planted three mounds of sunflowers. These are HUGE, taller than me and any day now I should start seeing flowers. Sunflowers are important oil and mineral crops and deserve a spot in anyones garden. Now for whats in the rest of the garden. The three sisters garden takes up about half of my veggie garden the other half has quite a bit in it as well. Here is a list: dill, basil, oregano, thyme, parsley, bell peppers, jalapenos, tobasco peppers, tomatoes, lettuce, peas, amaranth, sweet leaf steevia, mustard, sage, lavender, tomatillo, and goji berries. When I first started the garden this spring I would get mentally lost daydreaming of what was to come, working my way through the plot taking out the small invading weeds, and planning the drip irrigation system or where to plant what. Now, just yesterday my neighbor was looking for me and couldnt see me as I was lost in the jungle of my garden. And my smile just keeps on growing ;) :) :) Thanks for reading this far guys....go play in the dirt already. Oh and as an update. I my corn has since silked and the early variety I planted is starting to swell in its husks. I should have fresh corn within two weeks or so I imagine. I have a number of pumkins maturing, the scarlet runner beans are starting to grow with the largest about 5 inches long. Zuccini everywhere, and a good number of acorn squash. The only things I am disapointed with are the cucumbers and the cantelope. I guess we will see what if anything they will do but so far the only fruit is to small to make a note of. OK the tomotoes are pretty small too but really they were not my focus this year its was all corn and it sure shows. http://www.ida.net/kralen/garden072007.jpg
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Three Sister variations
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I don't think specific types of the three sisters matter. The requirement is that you have the right general recipe: corn (a tall crass that requires high nitrogen) + climbing beans (a legume providing N that climbs the corn) + vining squash/melons (that cover the ground providing weed inhibiting shade.) I've done heirloom corn + small winter squash + purple pole beans and had great success. I can't be specific w/ names as I don't remember.
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Three Sisters
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Wow, Nice garden! I tried that trick last year with a raised bed. I put corn, pole beans, and sweet potatoes in it. I figured the potatoes would provide the ground cover and would take whatever spot not used by the corn and been roots. Not sure if its wise, but it seemed to work. I added an extra trellis for the beans so they wouldn't overwhelm the corn too bad. My bean output was spectacular, but I probably only got about 6 decent ears of corn. I think I didn't fertilize it enough to compensate for the sweet potatoes in the soil. I'm trying it again this year with a new raised bed since the old one still has onions in it, but I can already tell I planted too soon. The cardboard hadn't had enough time to properly decompose and the corn is only about 4 feet tall. I'm guessing the roots couldn't go deep enough. Oh well. That's why we experiment. Next season the bed should be ready and I can do it correctly. I never thought to simply toss a single corn here and there amongst my beds rather then line them up in rows. Its rather brilliant. I do that with sunflowers to increase my chances of sneaking them past the squirrels and to get something above the plantline. I'm going to experiment with that with my fall crops as well as see what other ground covers I can use.
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Three Sisters gardening technique
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I can see how this would be confusing, but your question is not really a groundcover issue. This is more a case involving companion planting and its benefits and you will probably get more and better responses if you post your question on the Companion Planting forum. However, I'm not sure I would consider eliminating mulch even if the squashes did cover the ground well (which they will). Mulching is one of the best things you can do for your garden.
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Three Sisters Garden

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