This is a collection of 8 packets: 1 Sweet corn, 2 flour corn, 2 pole beans, 2 winter squash,and 1 flower that is the perfect starting point to growing your own 3 Sisters staple crop garden.
8 packets (our choice of the mix): $28 ($4 savings)
See Below for more background information:
Three Sisters Companion Planting
The three Sisters approach to growing corn, beans, and squash together as a polyculture developed in the arid Southwestern USA. In the sandy soils there, the early indigenous farmers would poke a hole with a planting stick 8-12” deep and pour the seeds of corn, pole beans and winter squash all into the same hole to encourage them to root where there was residual moisture. The corn, being a monocot would push up first and the beans and squash later, ensuring that they wouldn’t topple the corn.
The Corn in clumps spaced 6-8 feet apart while the beans climbed its stalks and the squash trailed along the ground providing a living mulch.
For most of us, if we were to plant these seeds a foot deep, the seeds would all rot, so we must adapt this strategy to our garden conditions. I suggest planting the corn 4-8 seeds in hills spaced 4-6 feet apart. Once it is 4” tall plant pole beans & winter squash next to the corn plants. This gives the corn a head start so it isn’t strangled by vining bean plants. The pole beans weave the corn stalks together, which helps to avoid the stalks from falling over (lodging). Three sisters is done with dry corn (flourtype), dry beans(shelling), and winter squash
because the planting develops into such a jungle if done well, that you would not want to be traipsing through there to check if your sweet corn, snap peas or summer squash was ready. Rather you simply allow it to flourish over the summer and harvest it all in the fall when mature.
Many blessings on your gardening endeavors!...
