A Native American Gardening Technique

I have three sisters. But I am not talking about the three headstrong women who share my parents with me; I’m talking about the girls in my garden. I happened upon this planting technique fiddling around on Google one day. It’s an ancient, Iroquois planting method for corn, beans, and squash. The three sisters sustain each other and I am utterly “a-maized” (I love a good pun if there is such a thing) at the results.

In our neck of the woods, this process can be started in early- to mid-spring, but we’ve got such a long growing season I imagine you could start one into early summer. I’ve read several articles that each vary significantly, suggesting mound sizes anywhere from 2 to 8 feet across. I’ve split the difference with a couple of 4-foot circular planting beds. Richard dug up the dirt for me, and I added coir ( a coconut substitute for the unsustainable peat moss ) and a bit of organic Happy Frog fertilizer purchased from Garden Shop of Homewood.

In my family, the redhead is the youngest, but not so in raising these three sisters! It works like this: start with the corn, our oldest sister. She is also the tallest and provides a pole for the next sister, the green beans, to climb. The beans are planted when the corn is a hand high. These girls contribute by converting the sun’s energy into nitrogen, an essential nutrient for a healthy garden. As soon as the beans break through the soil, the third sister, squash, goes into the ground. The squash, encouraged by the garden tender, grows in a ring around the mound. Her broad leaves act as a mulch and help keep moisture in while inhibiting the growth of weeds.

Does this ever work! I am constantly battling encroaching lawn grass in the rest of the beds, but my three sister mounds remain virtually weed-free. I’ve already harvested green beans, and the ears of corn are on the way with the crook-necked squash following close behind. It actually makes quite an attractive bed, as well. The squash is ablaze with amazing yellow blooms and the beans have lovely little delicate bluish flowers. These wonderful mounds grace either side of the walk to my front door, where the sun shines most of the day.

As this has been such a success, I am going to plant another couple of three sister gardens and use them as a bed for pumpkins, also a squash variety.

It is very inspiring to think how much more successful this method has been after my several years of toiling away in the dirt with not much to show for it. I think I’ll investigate more Native American growing methods. I have a feeling I’ll be improving my odds by doing so.