experience w/ the three sisters: corn, beans & squash?

[tabitha]

fascinated by this native american tradition, i want to grow it this way this year.

does anyone here have an experience with it? i worry, deeply, that the ple beans will be impossible to pick. i am thinking of also planting an arched row of pole beans in case this proves to be the case.

the varieties i have chosen (not set in stone, i have just already ordered these.) are, Country Gentleman (sweet corn) and Missouri Wonder pole beans. the squashes will be plain crookneck and zukes. should i use dent corn instead?

tia, tabitha

[Pharmerphil]

try a little further spacing between the corn than normal, Three sisters will work; however, too close and your corn and beans...become quite tangled!
have answered this question a few times, I will look for the threads on my forum, or please, feel free to do so yourself, The native americans, (my Ancestors) had barely anythink but planting 'sticks', and the pictures(mostly drawings/paintings) that are available, show the 3 sisters plantings, as mounds, spaced at what looks like 3 foot intervals, I tried at a normal spacing a few times, and had quite the mess.

[tabitha]

thanks! i'll bookmark your forum for my next 'free time', heh.

the method i am trying is like this:
3 sisters (http://www.nativetech.org/cornhusk/threesisters.html)

i guess i'll have to try these varieties and find out! there is always next year.

[Pharmerphil]

Yep, that's it, notice in the pic the distance between the corn plants, it does work well and each plant benefits.

[Bear]

I have had good success over the past few years with Three Sisters corn, beans and squash interplanting. The varieties I have used were: Rainbow Inca (grew about 8-9 feet tall), Bloody Butcher corn (grew about 12-14 feet), Purple Podded Pole Beans, Genuine Cornfield Beans (these were excellent dry beans- like a small pinto bean), Scarlet Runner Beans (also terrific dry beans- and attractive red flowers), Butternut, Buttercup & Pie Pumpkins. All produced very well.

The website you referenced had good planting instructions somewhat similar to the way I planted mine. I made several mounds containing compost and manure, about 2 1/2 feet in diameter. I plant the first corn seed in the center of the mound, and then one seed in each of the four directions, about 9 inches apart, so there's enough room for the beans and squash. The squash get planted on the perimeter of the mound. Be sure to wait till the corn's at least 6 inches high before you plant the beans. As for the squash or pumpkins, the main thing is to train the vines so they go more or less where you want them to go, so that you can still reach the beans and corn without stepping on the squash.

By the way, we have been making our own cornmeal, and it is wonderful- has a sweet, tender quality so much better than what you get at the store.

Good luck- I think you'll enjoy growing the Three Sisters.

[mrschiefmac]

I really like this 3 sisters idea! Has anyone tried it with corn, soybeans, squash? I'm afraid my California track house garden area is a bit too small for this idea :(

[Pharmerphil]

Bear, don't You just LOVE the meal that Bloody Butcher makes, UMMM, YUMMY, and as you stated, it grows tall and produces Grreat yields..I have a pic....somewhere of me out chopping the stalks..I will go look!

[flowerpower]

In the 3 Sisters method, the pole beans are meant to be picked dry. Some of the crops were eaten fresh, but the majority of the vegetables were grown for winter storage. Also, A whole fish head would be planted in the center of the corn circles.

[tabitha]

oh, wow! i guess that totally escaped me- that you would let the beans go dry. of course!

i bought a bunch of bloody butcher last year but never got to plant it- if i recall,the germination was already low, what are my chances for this year wih that seed? we would probably end up feeding it to our jersey, we do not have a grain mill.

will the missouri wonder pole beans make good dry beans?

i am renewed in my excitement! thank you!

[dirtywhitehorse]

There is a book called "Buffalo Bird Womans Garden "which is a historic documentation of the way the Mandan Indians planted the 3 sisters. You do need at least 100 ears of corn to safely carry the genetics forward without losing the quality so even though you can plant the seed from a single ear you really should not save the seed from a single ear. Corn seed will still sprout for several years although the germination may be lower as it ages . It is also wind pollinated . If you wanted to try 3 sisters in a suburban tiny garden you sure could . I would use a strong sturdy corn and a bean like the purple podded pole or even a bean like as asperagas bean and whatever squash you have room for . You may have to hand pollinate the corn if you just have one circle .I would like to send a photo of our corn but can't figure out how to do it. :)Sharon

[kabuti]

FYI my 90 y/o grandad has some 'Indian' corn in his living room coffee table that has been there for at least 50 yrs so one day a couple years ago he planted some & it germinated just fine.

[tabitha]

i totally see the reasoning of the '100 ears of corn' thing in seed saving. but really, people, how many heirlooms were saved this way? i doubt that many were. in fact, i am certain that most of the cherished varieties we have today are unique because only few seeds were saved. slowly they changed, as a family chose the best seeds from the best plant. 100 ears may keep a variety more like the original, but who says the original is best? part of what enthralls me about seed saving is the chance for adaptation.

yes, there is the risk of mistake-making- 100 years ago it might ruin us. today, though, if my seeds arent what i expected i can drive up to Baker Creek and get some new ones!

[Bear]

Yep, Pharmerphil, the Bloody Butcher cornmeal is fantastic! I've got some left- I think some more cornbread is in order.

Tabitha- I don't have a grain mill either. I ground the corn in the food processor and in a blender. Both methods worked OK. I had best results by using a flour sifter after grinding it. This removed the larger gritty pieces, so I then had fine cornmeal and "gritty" meal. We made cornbread with the cornmeal, and soaked the gritty meal overnight- it made good cornmeal mush the following morning.

Another neat thing about the Bloody Butcher corn is that you can eat some of the ears as sweet corn if you pick them when the kernels are white & just starting to turn pinkish (you can see the little tiny red speckles on the white corn- not actually pink, but starting to turn from white to the deep red color it has at full maturity.)

We grew about 45 plants on nine 2 1/2 foot mounds & ended up with 80-something ears of corn. Most have two ears, some three, occasionally one.

The book "Buffalo Bird Woman's Garden" that Sharon previously mentioned is fascinating, and it's available online at http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/buffalo/garden/garden.html

[tabitha]

hmmm, a food processor, i hadnt thought of it!

i simply must try bloody butcher now! i think i'll give last year's seeds a shot- if they dont come up, it wasnt meant to be.

another book to lust after!

[coldspring]

I attempted this one year and the coons broke my corn over and killed (hurt) the squash plants in the process. I'm sure I probably didn't do everything right though.

[SelfSufficientOne]

Now I never would have thought my food processor could grind up corn good enough to make corn meal. I bought some Bloody Butcher seeds myself this year even though I didn't know how I was going to use it. So glad I read this post.
I also am going to try the three sisters method this year.

[deb65802]

I have done three sisters as well. but I do mine on a smaller scale. I amke min circle of corn with three beans and 1 squash. but have lots of circles. It doesn't take up so much room that way. I brush the corn up next to each other to aid in pollination. I plant as many bee plants as my yard will hold to keep the birds, butterflies and bees happy.
deb

[Ozark Matt]

Had great luck with it two rules #1 make sure corn gets a good head start. #2 make sure the corn gets a good head start. We used rainbow inca corn and black aztec corn. several types of pole beans purple and Hindistu and brockton horticulture and 5-8 kinds of squash.

[louanne]

This was a lovely find on the dynamics of the three sisters in detail...woo hoo

[crazyknitter]

Yep, that's it, notice in the pic the distance between the corn plants, it does work well and each plant benefits.

SO, you are saying that four feet in between each mound is more what is needed?

[louanne]

I am personally waiting for corn to come up...LOL...I am really counting on this for my garden this year....you know the plan and all that....
BUT IF the corn(which I su...ooooooooooooo dont do well so far) doenst come up I'll have to make more tall mater stakes....

[louanne]

doggone coons..lol....so far I havent run up against them here....bet they would win too....

[Grass Hopper]

My wife swore by it when she was in Africa for three years. We finally have enough place this year to do it and can't wait.

[Patio Princess]

I plan on trying it this year, or maybe just what I call "Two sisters". (Without the squash--I'm not a big squash fan.) I plan on using the corn to support my green beans--cheap trellises!

[springfever]

Ok, here's where I am on this so far. I had planted some corn in the house, so I took the little 5 inch seedling out and planted 3 or 4 together. Then I planted 4 beans around one and 4 squash around another bunch. I planted 6 little bunches of 4 corn and will decide what to put around them.
I may have messed this whole thing up but it's ok if I did, I'll just plant something else there.
I also planted a row of black eye peas. I got some bush green beans today and am going to plant them this weekend. Oh, after I planted all was well, but today it rained, I means reallllllly rained!

[crazyknitter]

Where did you folks get your Bloody Butcher corn seeds? You folks are wetting my appetite... so I suppose I better go find some.