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  • From: "TradingPostPaul" <tradingpost@riseup.net>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Mother Earth News, The Three Sisters . . . The nutritional balancing acto of the Americas
  • Date: Sun, 25 Feb 2007 19:53:30 -0700


Most unusual and thought provoking. I looked up the link for it
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Nature-and-Environment/2001-02-01/The-Three-S
isters.aspx

paul tradingpost@lobo.net


*********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********

On 2/25/2007 at 9:09 PM Norma Sutton wrote:

>The Three SISTERS
>
>The foundation of our family's survival plan is nothing but a plot of
>relatively isolated, well-watered land and a stock of Native-American
plant
>seed that we've been growing
>
> *The nutritional balancing act of the Americas.*
>by John Vivian Illustrations by Elayne Sears
>
>The foundation of our family's survival plan is nothing but a plot of
>relatively isolated, well-watered land and a stock of Native-American
plant
>seed that we've been growing, storing and upgrading since we first went
>a-homesteading back in 1968. Since then, I have done my best to assemble
>the
>seed, hand-powered tools and simple skills to take part in the cooperation
>between man and nature that harks back more than 10,000 years to when
>*Homo*
>*sapiens* first crossed from Eurasia into what is now Alaska. These early
>hunter-gatherers selected and improved a group of plants that could be
>hand-grown with relative ease and in sufficient quantity above daily
>subsistence needs to afford the people leisure time to establish settled,
>agricultural societies.
>
>Many native species that are still grown today include potatoes,
>sunflowers,
>amaranth, quinoa, chilies and many more. But the three foundation plants
of
>early new-world agriculture were, most importantly, the wild grass Zea
mays
>(called maize in most of the world and corn in the U.S.), beans (native
>legumes of several species) and squash (a curcubit).
>
>The elemental botanical differences between these three species guarantees
>that they will not all succumb to a single nutrition conflict, pest or
>meteorological event. Their growth habits and footprints on the land are
>markedly different, as are their nutritional requirements. Beans can
thrive
>in half sun or in a short, wet, cool and sunless summer that won't mature
>corn naturally and where those few squash that do develop are small and
all
>seed. High winds that mow down corn and whip-shred the large, fragile
>leaves
>of cucurbits will not much bother the small, tough leaves and wiry stems
of
>beans. And well-rooted corn will stand up to the droughts and deluges that
>wilt or wash out less well-rooted species.
>MIRACLE MAIZE
>
>Maize is the single greatest agricultural boon to mankind that nature has
>given us. It produces three to six times more food to plant or parcel of
>land than any other crop.
> <http://www.ogdenpubs.com/phpads/adclick.php?n=a206d267>
>
>Though most corn grown today goes to feed livestock or to fortify
>industrial
>products, unprocessed corn is a nearly ideal foundation food for
humankind.
>It does lack two essential amino acids - lysine and tryptophane - as well
>as
>riboflavin and niacin. These are supplied by beans. Carbohydrate-rich
>squashes are a great source of vitamin A, and their seeds provide quality
>vegetable fats that corn and beans lack. Together, the three plants
>constitute a complete nutritive punch.
>
>Native Americans recognized this combined, complementary dietary benefit
>and
>they were adopted into the spiritual family of man as the three sisters.
>This relationship was held sacred and was nearly universal among the
>settled, agricultural native people of the Americas.
>
>The origin of corn is still a subject of intense study and academic debate
>among paleobotanists. Corn's generous tendency to produce eight or more
>rows
>of kernels (totaling 500 to 1,000 nutrition-filled seeds) per cob is not
>observed in any living wild grass. Corn may have derived from a naturally
>mutated or ancient manmade hybrid of teosinte, a genetically close
relative
>that also produces multiple kernels - but only six or so in a single row.
>Alternatively, it may be a natural or manmade hybrid incorporating
>tripsacum, another genetically close relative.
>
>Throughout the Americas today, varieties of one or both of these wild
>grasses tend to grow along the uncultivated outer borders of fields
cleared
>and prepared for corn. The mingling of their airborne pollens with the
corn
>crop results in a genetic variety that can arm open-pollinated (nonhybrid,
>nongenetically spliced) seed corn against flood, drought, bugs or disease.
>Without this genetic diversity a homogenous plant population (monoculture)
>can prove vulnerable to a single pathogen or pest.
>
>The origin of beans and squash is much easier to trace. Many of their wild
>progenitors still exist. In addition, the insects that freely
>cross-pollinate the flowers of the cucurbits and wriggle their way into
>self-pollinating beans carry a huge wild-species' gene pool that
>continually
>strengthens curcubits and beans with the resistance of genetic diversity.
>GARDEN SITE AND PREPARATION
>
>To take advantage of the three sisters' promise of a perpetual, wholesome,
>handgrown food supply, it is best to follow the example of our
predecessors
>and build homes and gardens downhill or close to a reliable water source.
>In
>selecting your own place, look in the lowlands as near as you can get to
>good, year-round water.
>
>In most of rural North America, you can take advantage of earlier
>generations' skill in locating water by finding a 1920s or earlier farm.
>Search for a dip in the ground or several large, flat stones covering the
>wellhead. The stone sheathing of the old well may be caved in, full of
>decades-old trash or contaminated by any number of modern sources. But
with
>a little work, it can be reclaimed and used to water the sisters. When
>searching for water at antique homes, one giveaway is a thick stand of
>Jerusalem artichoke sunflowers.
>
>In the flatlands, a concrete slab with rusty angle irons protruding at the
>corners can indicate the location of a long-gone windmill. The central
well
>opening may be mortared up for safety's sake. On any old farm, a shallow
>handdug well may be found in the yard. No matter the circumference or the
>depth of the well hole, you can get water out with a solar- or
hand-powered
>push-pump or a long, tubular sheet metal-drilled well bucket on a spool of
>rope.
>
>Incidentally, both new and recycled/antique windmills are available. Many
>of
>the newer low-tech water-collecting devices were developed in response to
>exaggerated fears over the Y2K computer glitch of the late 1990s, but the
>supply is limited, so stock up now.
>
>The earliest desert gardens were located where plants seemed to grow
>naturally. Seed was planted deeply, in tubular holes that were sunk with
>tree-limb planting sticks six to eight inches to subsoil moisture. That
>way,
>gardeners didn't have to mound supporting soil around the plant's roots.
>Instead they just filled in the planting holes when leaves broke the
>surface. The deep-set seeds were also safe from crows and most other
>marauders. The water that supplied these gardens may still flow
underground
>or be contained in shallow aquifers.
>
>If you need to collect water in desert country, use cisterns, concrete or
>plastic sheet-lined impoundments, or barrels filled by water collected
from
>house and barn roofs. (Visit *www.motherearthnews.com* for additional
water
>collection ideas.)
>
>To take advantage of the three sisters' promise of a perpetual, wholesome,
>hand-grown food supply, it is best to build homes and gardens downhill or
>close to a reliable water source.
>SOIL PREPARATION
>
>>From the limited information available, my guess is that three sisters
>gardens included about an eighth of an acre for each adult in the family.
>As
>they made their way to North America from their southern origins, tobacco
>and sweet and white potatoes were planted in separate plots. Amaranth,
>quinoa and sunflowers were often grown separately or along borders of the
>main three sisters plots. Jerusalem artichokes, the perennial variety of
>sunflower that produces an abundance of crisp, edible tubers, were given
>separate, permanent plots to the north of annually planted gardens.
>
>Gardens were prepared entirely by hand and with few tools: a long digging
>stick, sometimes with the butt-end of a branch protruding from the working
>end for use as a footrest; a hoe made from the scapula (shoulderblade) of
a
>deer or bison bound into a split stick with rawhide; rakes of deer antlers
>bound to a sapling handle or a bound sheaf of curve-ended saplings; and
>flat-rock hand trowels.
>
>The Delaware and a few other East coast tribes cleared and dug up large
>fields along upper reaches of tidal rivers, planting in long, straight
>rows.
>Most gardens were located, sized and cleared as family size demanded and
>available land allowed. On the prairies, Native Americans planted in
>floodplains along rivers, where there were few permanent plants and the
>soil
>was enriched annually by alluvial silt deposits. Woodland tribes planted
in
>the flat spring flood zones inside of meanders in rivers and streams, as
>well as in sunny clearings whenever possible.
>CULTIVATION
>
>Most native cultures held the earth sacred, and resisted cutting too
deeply
>into the soil or cultivating unless it was essential for the crop. When
>clearing land, the hoe and planting stick were used as needed to loosen
>roots. These were shaken to loosen soil, then left in piles to dry for
>later
>burning. Brush and small trees were cut and roots dug out with planting
>sticks. Large trees were either relocated or destroyed - burned or girdled
>at the base and left to dry and fall apart over time. Freshly cleared
brush
>was allowed to dry and was burned. Ashes were hoed in, along with lime and
>minerals, which made the soil soft and easier to work.
>
>Gardens were allowed to lie fallow for two years between corn crops, a
>pattern that is followed by many homestead-scale gardeners today. Every
>third year, before planting, the new fallow-ground plants were pulled,
>dried
>and burned. Often, even more grass, brush and tree limbs were hauled in
and
>burned on the freshly cleared soil.
>
>The three sisters were planted in hills, in yardwide pits or in raised
>mounds that were fertilized, tilled and retained for several years.
>Surrounding land was untilled, but cleared of potentially competing large
>weeds.
>
>Fish carcasses were often buried beneath corn hills, but no manure - human
>or from horses or wild animals - was used as fertilizer. It often
contained
>still-viable weed seeds and was considered unclean in both a temporal and
>spiritual sense. This is one area where we can part company with Indians,
>who did not compost. Properly composted "humanure" or a winter's
collection
>of livestock dung, mixed with straw or sawdust bedding and allowed to rot
>during the summer, makes a matchless soil enhancement.
>
>Straw scarecrows, as well as long grass leaves bound into twisted-grass
>cord
>and arrayed over the garden, were used to deter crows and other birds.
From
>our experience, they work as well today as long as locations are changed
at
>least one a day - crows are still pretty smart (see "Critter Control,"
>November 2000).
>
>Post-planting crop lands were thoroughly hand-cultivated, but only twice
in
>the season. The first shallow hoeing took place on a hot, sunny day a few
>weeks after planting. By that point, most of the inevitable crop of
>windblown weed seeds had germinated and grown to six inches or so - not
yet
>shading crop plants or vying with them for water or soil nutrients. Soil
>was
>shallowly shaved by the hoe, cutting stems just below ground level, which
>allowed roots to decay in the soil and above-ground growth to dry into
>mulch. A second hoeing followed several weeks later. After that, the few
>weeds that were not shaded out by the crops were pulled by hand.
>VARIETIES AND PLANTING
>
>The earliest wild-corn varieties probably produced kernels that dried
>rock-hard on one- to two-inch long cobs. The corn was roasted in the husk
>and enjoyed in the immature "green" stage as it is today. The earliest
>types
>were probably popcorn, which retains a bit of water inside mature, dried
>kernels. By all archaeological indications, kernels were eaten off the
cob.
>
>Over the millennia, thousands of varieties were bred, both accidentally
and
>on purpose, from the originals. Some modern crossbreeding/hybridizing is
>being done by agribusiness that breeds candy-sweetness into sweet corn and
>pesticide genes into field corn. More to MOTHER'S liking are the
>plant-breeding programs being undertaken by seedsavers - small private and
>corporate business growers and some universities - to breed back to
>original
>Indian strains and to breed natural drought, pest and pollution resistance
>into native varieties. Most notable - and most accessible to home
gardeners
>- are the efforts of the certified all - or g anic growers at Seeds Of
>Change, PO Box 15700, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87506.
>
>Most original Indian varieties have been lost for generations, so anyone
>making a half-serious attempt to establish a seedbank appropriate to their
>own area will have to start with a sample of open-pollinated seed,
>selecting
>and reselecting the best for their climate. I am trying to dehybridize
>early
>developing corn by planting out and reselecting the wildly variable plants
>that grow from the seed of early hybrid corn (from Vesey's Seeds of Prince
>Edward Island. Call (800) 3637333.)
>
>To try this in your own garden, plant hybrid or open-pollinated standbys
>such as the eight-row Golden Bantam, introduced in 1902. Select the best
>plants for five years or more and plant the seed in sun-warmed raised beds
>or in blocks of well-draining sharp sand. Plant as early as you can, even
>if
>most of it dies from cold and ground rot. In time, you will have a start
on
>a naturally shorter-season variety of your own.
>
>Nearly all Indian corn, beans and squash were planted in multiseed
"hills,"
>located four or more feet apart in both directions, usually six seeds to a
>hill and thinned to the best three or four plants. Rows of beans and corn
>were alternated to keep them from competing for water or minerals. The
>climbing bean varieties would scale cornstalks, their close-held leaves
>interfering little with the fanned-out leaves of cornstalks and tillers.
>Corn was planted in single-variety blocks separated by brush or by blocks
>of
>another species to minimize unwanted cross-pollination and genetic
>contamination of the following year's seed. Varieties with light, easily
>airborne pollen were carefully isolated.
>
>Experiment with many varieties of beans. Buy those that are grown to dry
>and
>keep for a year or more. Few varieties grown for succulent pods will make
>good crops of dry beans. One exception is the fine old Kentucky Wonder
pole
>bean; the long pods that are not used fresh or at the mature but still
>moist
>shell-bean stage should be left to dry and provide a handful of succulent
>white, Navy-type dry beans. You can pick from the world's largest
>assortment
>of bean seed (and more) from Vermont Bean Seed Company in Fair Haven
>Vermont, 05743-0250. For additional information on Vermont Bean Seed
>Company's selection of beans, visit *http://www.vermontbean.com/home.html
>.*
>
>Squash - which produces long stems and huge leaves, was planted by
>Native-American gardeners in segregated plots or in ten- to 20-foot-wide
>sections of com/bean fields. The tendrils would grow into the corn/beans -
>but never high enough to shade other crops.
>
>We have a much greater selection of squash than our predecessors -
>including
>many varieties that have been improved in Japan and Europe. But when
>picking
>a variety for sure cropping, choose and grow wisely. I learned early on to
>start squash indoors along with the early broccoli. Northcountry Indians
>did
>the same a thousand years ago: Seed was moistened, wrapped in moistened
>grass, bagged in a deerskin pouch and kept warm till sprouted.
>HARVEST AND STORAGE
>
>Corn you intend to store should be allowed to mature to full hardness and
>left to field-dry on the stalk. Watch out for corn borers - they can
>decimate the kernels. To control them, crush a few handfuls of sunflower
>seeds and boil and mash till their oil floats on top. Skim off the oil,
>cool, and on a sunny day (when the corn ears are well-warmed), squirt an
>ample dose into the young silks of new corn. Repeat generously if newly
>picked green roasting ears reveal live borer caterpillars.
>
>Dry corn can be shucked of its husk by rubbing pairs of cobs together to
>loosen the kernels. Today you can purchase old-time mechanical one-ear
>cornshellers or small disc-shaped hand-held shellers from the homesteading
>catalogs. I keep seed safe from mice in surplus ammo cans, larger
>quantities
>of grain keep well in steel garbage cans with the tops well secured.
>Fifty-gallon steel drums would be more secure.
>
>Dry corn is easily stored in a crib, such as the small air-dry ing corn
>crib
>with aluminum pie plates under its legs to keep rodents out (illustrated
in
>MOTHER # 174, July 1999, "Build a Backyard Corn Crib").
>
>The best way to deal with beans is to pull dry vines, heap them on a sound
>tarp, stomp on them to split dry pods, and run a finger down both halves
to
>remove seeds. Then drop handfuls of beans in a good wind so that chaff
>flies
>off.
>
>Hubbards and butternut squash will keep for almost a year if the
>temperature
>remains cool and the air dry. We store winter squash in a dry cellar room
>kept from freezing by wood-stove heat piped down a floor duct or just
>radiating from the ground floor.
>SAVING SEED
>
>Native Americans learned thousands of years ago that the best planting
seed
>comes from the fattest kernels at mid-cob of a corn ear; in addition, they
>also knew that it comes from the most uniform and fattest-sounding
>uncracked
>beans and squash seed.
>
>Seed to be saved is cleaned and sundried-indoors on a windowsill or in the
>shelves over a woodburning range. I have gotten into the habit of jotting
>down the details of its history and enclosed note and seeds in paper bags
>(to let drying air in and out) and store them in my ammo boxes - left open
>a
>crack - on a high shelf in my always-warm kitchen.
>
>
>--
>Faith expects from God what is beyond all expectation. - Andrew Murray
>
>Check out my portfolio!
>http://Writing.Com/authors/normas
>
>New spindles listed on my etsy shop.
>http://sweetspringfarm.etsy.com
>
>visit our farm site at:http://www.freewebs.com/sweetspringfarm/
>
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