Your Three Sisters Garden

After posting yesterday about the changes being "considered" for corn crops (vaccines in corn?), I started thinking about my future crops of corn. As you may be aware, we can't grow corn this year because we're putting the house up for sale in a few weeks.

Last year, my first year of real gardening and of Three Sisters gardening, we planted a combination of crops in the corn patch.

(Pic to right was taken on July 7 2008 - looks busy doesn't it? Planted the beans too early and the corn too close together!)

• corn - Early and Often Sweet Corn, and a couple of Bloody Butcher and a couple of Blue Hopi - yes, they cross-pollinated and was quite interesting!
• beans - pole - Romano and KY Wonder - delicious
• squash - we planted too many summer squashes (which don't vine so that was way wrong), a few Mexican X-Top cushaw winter squashes, a Sugar Pie pumpkin, and a couple of spaghetti winter squashes. We didn't save seeds, and to this day, still have a couple of the X-Tops left in the basement.
• sunflowers - we grew mammoth and some were short and some were taller than 6 and 7 feet tall! The only thing is the beans didn't want to climb them, and I didn't give them enough space. They need more room than the corn stalks, because the stalks got huge, and the leaves pushed everything out of the way.

(Pic to right is the cornpatch in early September, but pic mostly shows the sunflowers.)

I'm buying the seed now for all of our future corn crops. Also gonna order the bean seed. Considering alternating one kind one year and another kind the next year, then change again.

• corn - Bloody Butcher switching to Black Aztec the next year - both can be eaten as corn on the cob but do better dried on the cob for corn meal. I understand the corn stalks can also be harvested before the first frost, completely uprooted, and dried upside down hanging from rafters and used as needed.
• bean - KY Wonder did great last year, but I can't find where it makes a good dried white bean. We did dry them but I'm kinda nervous about using. Anyone? Also, we want a second pole bean to alternate to the next year - considering Cherokee Trail of Tears which produces a shiny black bean that is good as a snap bean or dried.
• squash - we plan to alternate pumpkin (kind?) with Mexican X-Top cushaw (very long vines with lots of large fruit that stores well and seeds are great toasted) and possibly spaghetti or butternut.
• sunflowers - mammoth - only on the perimeter and spaced correctly!

We'll, of course, plant bush beans and summer squashes in other places. Can't imagine not growing soybeans! Plus we'll be planting gourds elsewhere, like bushel basket and birdhouse, for functional use later.

Anyway... ... I'm writing this because I'm curious - are YOU doing a Three Sisters garden this year? If so, what varieties are you growing? Are you concerned about my article yesterday about the GMO modification and vaccine-implanting of corn seed? Are you stocking up on seeds and learning about seed saving?

Companion Planting: Beans

There are bush beans and pole/vining beans... and sometimes it seems like each bean has its likes and dislikes. Generally speaking, most beans like being planted with:

• carrots


• cauliflower


• beets (for bush beans but NOT for pole beans!)


• cucumbers


• cabbages


• marigolds (helps repel a bean beetle)


• summer savory

Last year, we planted soy beans in an 8 x 4 raised bed, with onions in the middle. We learned the hard way that beans do NOT like being planted anywhere near the onion family, which includes garlic, scallions, shallots and chives. The beans survived but we didn't get even an onion seedling! Beans also don't like gladiolas or fennel.

Have you read our article about the three sisters planting? (http://backyardgrocerygardening.blogspot.com/2009/03/planting-three-sisters-way.html) Running (vining) beans grow up the corn stalk, giving them plenty of air and room to grow, making it easier to pick. Beans also fix nitrogen into the ground, which the corn needs. And the beans anchor the corn more firmly, which helps to protect against the wind and a thick growth of beans helps to deter critters.

If you have bush beans to plant with corn, alternate a row of corn with a row of bush beans.

Some bush beans like being planted with a celery plant - one to every 6 or 7 bushes of beans. Some bush beans also like being planted with strawberry plants.

Pole/vining beans don't like kohlrabi or sunflowers. We learned this the hard way because we planted sunflowers in our three sisters bed. Not even one bean plant survived past peeking it's head out of the soil! Pole beans do like radishes, though.

= = =

I know this is a lot to take in. Sometimes you just have to look at what you want to plant, and see what you can fit and where.

How to Grow Beans

Beans are an excellent source of protein, and should be included in every Backyard Grocery Garden! They are very easy to grow, hard to mess up, and a great learning experience for children. Easy to harvest too... just pull off the pod and munch it down! Be sure to harvest when the pods are small so that the beans will be tender.

There are two kinds of beans: pole (vines) and bush. We grow both. All need full sun, and regular waterings (keep the soil moist). Sow seeds directly into the ground immediately after the last Spring frost. They sprout very quickly (5-10 days). Don't start indoors ahead of time because they don't really transplant very well.

Pic of pole string beans to the right.


Pole beans need support, like corn stalks or along a fence. Most will climb it up but some might need help from you by tying the stalk. These are the beans to grow if you want a steady harvest all Summer long. From seed to first harvest, is 9 weeks. Look for unusual places to plant your bean vines - at the bottom of your porch to climb up the porch railings, with your corn plants, along a tree (how wonderful to pick green beans "off of your tree"!).

Bush beans work well in a square foot raised bed garden - try a 4 foot by 8 foot bed, planting 9 per square foot. This will give you 288 bushes in that bed, providing plenty of beans for your 4-person family. From seed to harvest, is 8 weeks. It will look a little crowded, but if it looks too messy for you, tie up the bush to contain it.... will do just fine.

Soybeans are bush beans (see pic to the right). Watch for the foliage to start turning yellow which means it's almost time to harvest! You have only a few day window to harvest before the beans get a little too tough. Check daily. When most of the foliage is yellow, harvest. We pull up the plant, carefully strip off the pods, and throw the bush into the compost pile.

Black turtle beans (also bush beans) are fun! You can eat the pod and bean when they are still green. But watch for the pods to turn purple and then dried, which indicates that the actual bean inside is turning black. Wait for the pod to completely dry out (but not too long!), bring inside and place in a collander with a cover on it. As the rest of the moisture escapes, the pods will burst open, like popcorn! We learned this the hard way, awaking one morning to little black bean pods all over the dining room table and floor!

For preserving or cooking with beans, check out http://www.survival-cooking.com/.

Planting the Three Sisters Way

This first pic is the northside of our Three Sisters patch (2008). Very close to the house. You can see the sunflowers in the back and the corn in the front.

Have you heard of the Three Sisters?

From (http://www.reneesgarden.com/articles/3sisters.html): The Iroquois believe corn, beans and squash are precious gifts from the Great Spirit, each watched over by one of three sisters spirits, called the De-o-ha-ko, or “Our Sustainers". The planting season is marked by ceremonies to honor them, and a festival commemorates the first harvest of “green” corn on the cob.

Native American People used corn as the staple in their diet. Parched corn plus prevented starvation for many days. Corn was boiled, roasted and also ground and used as flour for many dishes. Corn was easy to store by braiding the leaves and hanging upside down from rafters. Husks for used as dolls, masks and mats. Corn stalks could be used as fuel. Keep a watch on the corn, and soon after you see the silks and pollen (which gets everywhere!), watch for the cobs. After a while you'll get the hang of seeing the brown silk tassles, and the feel of the cobs, you'll know when to harvest.

Pumpkins (or other winter squash) provide the ground cover. The pumpkins from even a couple of centuries ago weren't our jack-o-lantern but more of a crookneck. Pumpkins could be stewed or dried to use during the coming winter. Not sure if the seeds were roasted, or just kept for planting the next year.

Fresh young beans were cooked in stews, while the dried beans provided meals later - rehydrated for soups and stews, or ground into flour. Great source of protein when meat was scarced. The vines were braided together and also hung from the rafters. Pole beans, chosen appropriately, will use the corn stalks as a trellis without strangling the stalk. Planting the corn with plenty of room in between will help you find the beans. Once they start flowers, keep careful watch. They will quickly become edible size and ready for eating as cooked "green beans". If you plan to dry the beans, leave them alone until harvesting the corn, to dry on the vine. Still, keep a watch on them so that predators don't steal them or they don't split once they've dried.

Sunflowers have recently been found to do excellently in this arena. They break down the earth with their strong roots, and stretch out to provide a living trellis for the beans. The sunflowers are harvested when the back of the heads turn brown and bend from the weight of the seeds. Cut the stalk near the ground, hang upside down, with paper bags around the head to catch the seeds as they dry. Good for snacks, but also good for grinding into flour, and making sunflower seed oil.

Why companions? The squash/pumpkin provides ground cover to keep moisture in, and the prickles of the leaves and vines prevent predators (like raccoons) from getting to the corn. The corn provides stalks for the beans to climb. The beans fix nitrogen into the soil, which the corn needs. Together, this is companion planting at it's best. PLUS, when you mix corn, squash and beans in your diet, they make a complete protein. Also called succotash, which we don't like, but we do make our own various recipes even tastier!

For our 2008 Three Sisters Patch, here's what we did...

CORN: We started the seeds indoors about 2 weeks before we planned to plant them. We used jiffy pellets then placed them inside jiffy pots so that there would be no problem with transplanting (corn doesn't like transplanting). The corn is planted first, giving it time to grow. Space it out well so that they don't crowd each other. Be sure to pick a corn that has hearty stems that will be needed to support the beans. Plant only one corn to avoid cross-pollination (unless that's what you're going for).

MAMMOTH SUNFLOWERS: We sowed these seeds directly into the ground, about a week after the corn. Be sure to get them at the North side of the corn patch because they will get taller than the corn (depending on the variety you choose). Give them a little more room than the corn.

SQUASH: The winter squash comes next. Don't plant summer squash as they don't vine out. These benefit from starting indoors. Choose something leafy and vining, and something that you like to eat. Pumpkins, Mexican X-Top (cushaw), butternut, spaghetti - they all seem to do well. EXCEPT: choose only one to avoid cross pollination (we planted a lot of different kinds last year and goodness... what a mess). Sow one seed per 4 corn seeds. Be careful not to step on the squash vines because they will get on your paths. The light spiney-ness will help keep critters like raccoons off of your corn. They will NOT keep the birds out!

BEANS: Then comes the beans. Choose a good climbing bean that you like to eat, and hopefully one you can harvest, dry and put up for the Winter. Sow directly into the ground, as these seeds sprout pretty quickly. These beans will wind up the cornstalk. Sometimes they are a little hard to see when harvesting but you just have to be patient and diligent.

Pictures:
This picture (from our Three Sisters garden in 2008) is the corn bed I started inside in flats on Memorial Day - "Early and Often" sweet corn, with string beans and various gourds and squashes.

We planted them outside in these two raised beds (2'x4') on June 08 2008 - plus extra seeds. Covered them with yellow tulle fabric we had bought at a yard sale last year - a whole bolt for $5. The fabric was to make sure no birds stole our seeds. It was very successful.

The next pic is the corn bed about one week later (Jun 17 2008) - unbelievable! Look at the growth!

We added several more Three Sisters raised beds within the next couple of weeks.

Please note that we did sooo many things wrong in 2008. We planted them too close together. We planted them all at the same time. The corn ended up a little stunted because the beans started creeping up before it got established. And we planted too many kinds of squashes. The summer (zucchini and crookneck) rose straight up and pushed away the nearby cornstalks. We got mutants from crossbreeding. It was a mess. But... the corn was sweet and tasty, eaten right there and then, raw. The beans grew fat and strong.

But ... we also didn't protect from weeds enough. While we did get a great harvest from everything, we would have had much more had the bindweed not strangled everything.

We can't raise corn this year (2009) because it can't be moved to our next house, the when we can, we'll make sure to lay down lots of newspaper instead of just one layer. And we'll keep up with the weeding more. Plus we'll space the boxes apart a bit more so that it's not quite a chore to bend over and weed - it's not fun bending over and getting poked in the hind-end with a corn stalk!