The Three Sisters Project - Part I: Corn

The three sisters - Corn, squash, and pole beans is an *old* method.


If this works out as it should, this new raised bed should supply an ample amount of corn, squash, and beans hereafter.... (from the Renee's Garden link above)


"Corn provides a natural pole for bean vines to climb. Beans fix nitrogen on their roots, improving the overall fertility of the plot by providing nitrogen to the following years corn. Bean vines also help stabilize the corn plants, making them less vulnerable to blowing over in the wind. Shallow-rooted squash vines become a living mulch, shading emerging weeds and preventing soil moisture from evaporating, thereby improving the overall crops chances of survival in dry years. Spiny squash plants also help discourage predators from approaching the corn and beans. The large amount of crop residue from this planting combination can be incorporated back into the mound at the end of the season, to build up the organic matter in the soil and improve its structure."

Having the "spiny squash plants" protecting the corn is of particular interest, since we have raccoons in the area. I don't want to go through this exercise just to feed a bunch of city coons.

I'm curious about the premise that you can plow in all the crop residue. Corn stalks, corn husks, squash leaves... combined and composted with the nitrogen that the pole beans capture in their root system, means that you can continually plant the same crops in the same plot? (more research needed.)

My official seed planters have planted the corn.....

When the corn gets to 4 inches the pole beans will be planted in the mounds with the corn, and the squash will go in the negative space between the the mounds.

"Native Americans kept this system in practice for centuries without the modern conceptual vocabulary we use today, i.e. soil nitrogen, vitamins, etc. They often look for signs in their environment that indicate the right soil temperature and weather for planting corn, i.e. when the Canada geese return or the dogwood leaves reach the size of a squirrels ear."

We planted when the lilacs and the cherry blossoms were in full bloom.