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  • From: neshura <neshura@gmail.com>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [permaculture] perennial tuberous Three Sisters alterna-guild?
  • Date: Tue, 2 May 2006 11:23:19 -0400

Hello all!

Just thought I would run this by you; I purchased some jerusalem
artichoke and groundnut and planted them up together in a very large
self-watering container, for lack of another location. I planted them
together because it occurred to me that the groundnut, being a vining
sort, might enjoy growing up into eight or ten feet worth of jerusalem
artichokes.

This morning, after weeks of failing to notice the similarity between
this arrangement and the native american corn-beans-squash arrangement
that's mentioned everywhere from my fifth grade Social Studies book to
most of my permaculture texts....it occurred to me that perhaps there
was a similarity and that a third low-growing component could be
added.

What I thought of was maybe camassia quamash. Any thoughts? Anyone
tried this? It would be a pretty wild-looking combination, but instead
of an above-ground annual harvest, it would be a below-ground
perennial harvest of thinned tubers.

Such a harvest would disturb the soil, but it seems to me that such
hearty natives would easily shade out weeds yearly, and could be
replanted and rotated every couple of years if yields were a concern.

I'm just mainly curious if the tubers would clash or complement each
other with regards to below-ground space partitioning. If anyone
knows, I'd appreciate hearing.

Thanks!
-neshura



  • [permaculture] perennial tuberous Three Sisters alterna-guild?, neshura, 05/02/2006

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