Three Sisters... Corn, Beans, and Squash

[ezri]

Advice welcome!

We had a raised bed square foot type garden when we lived in DC it kept me in salad all summer long. Leaf Lettuce, Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Parsley and the like. We moved to a rural area in NC in 2004 and are finally getting settled in and looking at doing some gardening. ( :baby04: That means my Rose garden is looking nice now and I have some time to spare :baby04: )

We homeschool and we went and heard a lady speak at the history museum about the "Three Sisters". We recently set up 9 mounds and put the corn in. The woman said they'd wait til it was 4 inches tall then they'd plan the beans then when the beans were past the sprout stage they plant the squash.

I have looked online and found sites that give similar directions for planting.

Now- I *ahem* have never grown Corn before. I admit it openly. I have been a city girl all my life. So now I have these mounds of soil that are about 3 foot across at the base and 2.5 foot across the flattened top. I put 3 holes in a triangle shape and dropped two seeds (Silver Queen) into each.

LOL! So what happens next?

Is there anything I can do to help ensure that the corn seeds germinates?

Are there things(pests) that I should be watching for once I see sprouts?

Did I put enough/too much corn seeds in each mound?

Layout of corn plantings- I put 2 seeds in each hole planted to the depth directed on the seed packet. Seeds are planted at the * in the diagram:

...*...
*....*

The thing I found neat was that if it takes 20 days to get to 4 inch corn- then by my estimation all three crops should harvest about the same time! (Told you I was a city girl right)

~e

[VALENT]

Did you water it pretty good? I personally would have put one seed in six separate holes but I think you did just fine. Depending on how may mounds you have, you may want to find a way to cover the young seedlings until they are less attractive to crows or such.

[Old_Grey_Mare]

Could someone tell me what the point is of planting in mounds? It seems so hard to water stuff that way.

Mary

[tnokie]

I didn't plant in mounds but I did plant a garden bed this year using the three sisters, I have indian corn,cherokee black beans,and squash. I call it my native american garden!So far it really looks good.

[COSunflower]

Can you eat Indian corn? Does it taste like reg. corn???

[greg273]

Thanks for the tip about the times to plant these, and in what order... I was going to just drop all three seeds in the same hole together... I still might do a few that way, but your advice sounds good. I dont intend to mound up the dirt, just use regular closely spaced rows.

[themamahen]

I plant 2 seeds every 10" or so of corn then drop beans inbetween the corns 2 of them as well my grandmother showed me this trick and she gardened for 70 yrs or so we planted Ky wonder beans so they climb right up the corn and in later years I learned the beans do indeed add nitrogen to the soil which the corn needs. Now as for me ... i prefer NOT to have my corn and beans come in at the same time toooo much work as i have about 8 rows of corn 50' long and beans throughout them so my beans come on and those are harvested and about the time the beans are done the corn is ready. works out very well in my case.

[VALENT]

Originally Posted by Old_Grey_Mare

Could someone tell me what the point is of planting in mounds? It seems so hard to water stuff that way.

Mary

Mostly it is very good if your drainage is lacking. It can also make it much easier to control weeds and grass. The mounds can be built with a ring to make watering easier.

[cindybode]

Hey Ez! Nice to see you over here! I don't post much here anymore because of a certain person that followed me from here to there but I still lurk.

Your biggest problem with the corn will be raccoons. They love the stuff, and somehow I can't see Buster goin' out there after them. Otherwise this type of garden usually does quite well. The beans feed the corn and the pumpkins cover the ground, blocking out weeds, and the whole thing is generally not a lot of work. I am planning to get mine going this weekend.

[ajaxlucy]

I've never done this (3 sisters planting). If you plant everything together, how do you get in to harvest? I imagine myself trompling over pumpkin vines and bending cornstalks trying to get at the beans. Do you plant only shell beans? And do you worry about crop rotation with this method?

[Jenn]

EZRI will you have enough corn for pollination? I saw on net to do FOUR corn plants and 4 bean plants not just three each hill.... http://www.reneesgarden.com/articles/3sisters.html

[dashley]

Originally Posted by Jenn

EZRI will you have enough corn for pollination? I saw on net to do FOUR corn plants and 4 bean plants not just three each hill.... http://www.reneesgarden.com/articles/3sisters.html

Hey Jenn,
Papaw here..... Thanks for the link. Good read.

[Jenn]

Hi Papaw- getting any rain this month or next? Don't think we will!

[turtlehead]

Originally Posted by cindybode

Your biggest problem with the corn will be raccoons.

This is my first year doing the three sisters so I can only comment about what I've read, and not from personal experience.

I have *read* that the squash, in addition to acting like a living mulch (shade for weed suppression and preservation of moisture in the soil), also deters raccoons because they can't stand the feel of the prickly fuzzy on their feet.

[lorian]

I did this last year and my beans hardly grew. I planted them in rows but they seemed like they werent getting enough light, they were leggy and unproductive. Do you think mounds are a productive way to plant corn? I think it's hard to plant "enough" for a big family this way. But I'm inexperienced....
Maybe I'll try again.

[YuccaFlatsRanch]

Since corn is wind pollinated the larger the groups of corn planted the better. If I had a choice of planting 100 square feet I would plant it 10 by 10 rather than 4 by 25.

[chuckhole]

Last year, we planted the three sisters using a 10' square pattern. Since our soil is so sandy, we do not use mounds. And to help support the corn and beans in this loose soil, we used a ring of 48" field fence between the corn and beans.

S.........................S...S................... .........S
.
.......B......B......B................B......B.... ..B
...........C..C..C.......................C..C..C
.......B..C..C..C..B................B..C..C..C..B
...........C..C..C.......................C..C..C
.......B......B......B................B......B.... ..B
.
S.........................S...S................... .........S

This year, we are using more of a row style three sisters planting. I have also put t-posts along the row between the corn and beens and I am using three strands barbless fence wire for support. For our soil conditions, this is working out well for us.

S.........................S....................... S.......................S
.
..B....B....B....B....B....B....B....B....B....B.. ..B....B....B...B
..C..C..C..C..C..C..C..C..C..C..C..C..C..C..C..C.. C..C..C..C
..C..C..C..C..C..C..C..C..C..C..C..C..C..C..C..C.. C..C..C..C
..C..C..C..C..C..C..C..C..C..C..C..C..C..C..C..C.. C..C..C..C
..C..C..C..C..C..C..C..C..C..C..C..C..C..C..C..C.. C..C..C..C
..B....B....B....B....B....B....B....B....B....B.. ..B....B....B...B
.
S.........................S....................... S.......................S

[ezri]

The corn is about 3" tall now. Most of it came up and the birds seem to be leaving it alone.

Having enough corn to pollinate... Hmmm had not thought about that. We almost put in an entire packet of corn in the mounds that we planted. *shrug* I am a city girl... we shall see how it comes out. Any ideas on how to pollinate to be sure it happens? I know I did tomatoes one year and took a small paint brush and dabbed the flowers to be sure the one container grown plant we had pollinated. Can you do something similar with corn?

As for our "experiment" here- It would be nice to get a arm load of corn from this. Enough to make a nice cookout with friends would be great and to be honest more than I expect. The only things I have ever had much luck with growing are Roses, Dandelions, and Squash- The dandelions always do the best too.

I like the "Row" idea corn in the middle beans on either side and then the Squash... Might be something to try next year if this year proves "unfruitful" *WINK*

~ezri

[ezri]

Originally Posted by Jenn

EZRI will you have enough corn for pollination? I saw on net to do FOUR corn plants and 4 bean plants not just three each hill.... http://www.reneesgarden.com/articles/3sisters.html

Awesome Link!

They said you could plant through June so I could probably get another envelope of seeds and add to the mounds. I probably have another week before the beans would go in.

Also I saw my original layout from another forgotten website had the squash planted at the base of the mount- this one above has them in separate mounds between the corn/bean mounds... anyone know of any advantages of one over the other?

My Mother also suggested that I plant some morning glories in the center of the corn- I wonder if the morning glories are just to pretty it up OR if they serve some purpose--- such as to attract pollinators??? She is the Farm girl not me.

~ezri

[MELOC]

beware of morning glory in your garden...they get loose and take over.