Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[Liz <liz@allslash.org>]

At 05:17 AM 7/10/2008, you wrote:

> I have heard about the cultivation of beans, 
> corn and pumpkin, called the three sisters, 
> practices by the American natives.  However, I 
> don¢t know how this is done in practice.  Are 
> these plants cultivated at random in the same 
> field, or are they cultivated in rows in close 
> proximity to each other?  Are they sown at the 
> same time, or are the sowing dates staged?  How 
> exactly is it done?  <?xml:namespace prefix = o 
> ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

I thought that the three sisters were corn, beans 
and squash, not pumpkins. I don't know why you 
couldn't use pumpkins instead, except that they spread even worse than squash.

I've only done this once, though I plan to try it 
again. I planted the corn farther apart than you 
normally would, about three feet apart in a 10 to 
12 foot square block. I let it get about six 
inches tall and then planted a couple of bean 
seeds (pole beans) close to each stalk.  At the 
same time, I planted a squash seed in between 
each corn stalk. The beans twined up the corn 
stalks, and the squash grew in the open space. 
The only thing that I wasn't completely happy 
with is that many of the ears of corn didn't 
completely fill out. I'm assuming they weren't 
completely pollinated because they weren't as close together as normal.

> Anyway, too impatient to thoroughly investigate 
> the matter, I went ahead this year and tried it 
> out.  I broadcast all seeds at random into an 
> existing stand of weeds, trampled down the 
> weeds, spread ½ inch of compost and toped 
> everything with 1 to 2 inches of mulch.  It all 
> went well, except that now, nearly 3 months 
> later, the pumpkin leaves are starting to shade 
> the bush beans.  The beans have flowered, and I 
> have started harvesting, so perhaps it doesn¢t 
> matter all that much that the beans are in the 
> shade of the pumpkin leaves.  I wonder, once the 
> seed pods have formed, is photosynthesis via the 
> leaves still necessary, or can the seed pods 
> mature solely with the energy supplied by the roots?

I don't know the answer about photosynthesis, but 
if the bean leaves are shaded, it certainly is 
going to cut down on the energy available to the 
whole plant, and I wouldn't think that would be good.

> I also thought that perhaps if I had delayed 
> sowing the pumpkins by 2 to 3 weeks, I might 
> have been able to avoid this problem.  What do 
> you think?  Any information regarding the 3 sisters is welcome.

I don't know whether my method is traditional. It 
just seemed like the right sequence for the 
particular plants. Sowing the squash or pumpkins 
later would cut down on them shading the beans, 
but using a pole bean variety instead of bush 
beans would also take care of the problem. I did 
worry that the corn would be hurt by the beans 
climbing on them, but couldn't see that it made 
any difference. The bean leaves shaded the corn 
somewhat, but not enough to keep it from developing.

Here are a couple of links: Renee's Garden - 
http://www.reneesgarden.com/articles/3sisters.html
Kids Gardening - 
http://www.kidsgardening.com/growingideas/PROJECTS/MARCH02/mar02-pg1.htm
iVillage Garden Web - 
http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/teach/2003045238014436.html

Liz in SW VA
http://life-as-a-spectator-sport.com