Companion Planting
Corn, beans, and squash are called the “three sisters.”
Native Americans always inter planted this trio. 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.
Each of the sisters contributes something to the planting. Together, the sisters provide a balanced diet from a single planting. The concept of companion planting, in which one plant helps the other, is the basic idea here.
As older sisters often do, the corn offers the beans needed support for her trailing vines. .
The beans, the giving sister, fixes and 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 their 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 shades the soil, keeping it cool and helps hold moisture and preventing weeds from starting. Also, her prickly squash leaves keep away raccoons, which don’t like to step on them.
These sisters thrive together, much like three inseparable sisters.
Together, the three sisters provide both sustainable soil fertility as well as a healthy diet. Perfection!
Sometimes gardeners provide a fourth sister who lure the birds away from the corn with her seeds of plenty. That would be Sister Sunflower or Sister Bee Balm – they also support sister beans, attract insect pollinators and provide seed to keep birds busy and away from sister corn.
Tips for Growing The Three Sisters
To start them in your garden, prepare the soil by adding fish scraps or wood ash to increase fertility of the soil.
Make a mound of soil about a foot high and four feet wide, in an area with full sun.
Plant the corn in the mound. Sow at least six to 10 kernels of corn an inch deep and about ten inches apart in a circle of about 2 to 3 feet in diameter.
When the corn is about 5 inches tall, plant four to six bean seeds, evenly spaced, around each stalk. About a week later, plant six to 8 squash seeds, evenly spaced, around the perimeter of the mound.
More about Companion Planting:
Companion planting in gardening and agriculture is the planting of different crops in proximity for pest control, pollination, providing habitat for beneficial creatures, maximizing use of space, and to otherwise increase crop productivity. Companion planting is a form of polyculture. Be on the watch for more details about Companion Planting in our future blogs.
