Three Sisters Planting Method

[Wyrdlight]

I was just wondering if anyone has tried the three sisters native american farming method? i saw it on a BBC program "my dream farm" and looked it up on google, it seems extremely clever and perfect for those who dont have much space.

Essentially you build a mound of earth around 12 inches high and 20 inches across, you plant maize in the middle of the mound then 1-2 weeks later you plant squash and beans around the edge alternating between the two.

It works well in that each element or sister supports the life of the other. The maize provides a platform for the beans to climb, eliminating the need for poles, the beans fix nitrogen into the soil improving the yield and health of the maize and squash, the squash covers the gound and stop weeds appearing and helps deter pests with its hairy stem and leaves (this all taken from wikipedia).

It reminds me of the type of farming used in West Africa, very similar, it's so clever because it is self-sustaining and self-supporting, does not need much space and would look pretty too, little pyramids of greenery, flowers and veg.

So has anyone tried this method?

[Lesley Jay]

No, I haven't tried the three sisters method but I do know that you can have problems harvesting the veg. The bean plants can swamp the sweetcorn plants, wrapping tightly around and making it virtually impossible to harvest the corn cobs when they are ready. You also need to watch that you don't step on the squash when picking the beans. The Native American Indians grew the corn, beans and squash for storing over winter rather than eating fresh so they just let the entire three sisters bed grow, then die down and the veg dried on the plants before harvesting.

If you try the method please keep us updated on how successful it is. Good luck!

[ginger]

I'm planning on giving this a go this year - I didn't know it was called the three sisters method.

Will see how it goes and report back!

[ginger]

Right, well, hasn't gone quite according to plan so far - the corn didn't germinate very well so I had to get another lot going, which I then transplanted, but was on hols last week and we had some hot/dry weather here and now I'm starting again from seed...

Trying to germinate the seeds (on damp tissue) first, then sow, this time - much like the parsnip method mentioned on here somewhere - only had about 30% success rate with the seeds in pots.

*crosses fingers*

Oh, and I was planning on trying some beans up the sunflowers too, but the slugs have eaten a few of them already, grrr

*shakes angry fist at the slugs*

[ginger]

Right, I wouldn't call it a runaway success, and probably won't be trying it again.

It was a slow start (see above - the corn took three attempts to get going) which meant I still haven't had any beans yet when last year I'd had over a month of them by now... The courgettes are coming along slowly.
On the plus side, it looks like a fantastic jungle (will take a pic if ever this rain stops...).

Overall I think I'd get a better harvest doing the beans separately. I might try corn/courgettes together again, I think courgettes are happier with the corn than the beans (in terms of available light).

Two sisters next year?

[tommyq1976]

Originally Posted by ginger

Two sisters next year?

I've done two sisters this year with peas climbing the corn plants and it seems to be going pretty well - was a bit scared to have beans climbing them as I'd heard they swamp the corn (there's an old thread here somewhere where i was asking advice...), the corn's coming up well and my peas don't seem able to fail this year

I'm definitely going to give three sisters a go next year, seems a great idea in theory and I quite fancy giving the practice a go... I'll keep you all updated of course

[Mrs Dobby]

We had problems with 3 sisters when we tried it, the beans smothered the corn, reducing yield and making harvesting difficult, however, we've been using a 2 sisters method for the past 3 years of corn and pumpkins / squash, and that works brilliantly!



The corn grows nice n tall, so crops well, and the pumpkins / squash grow lower, crop well and provide a good groundcover, reducing weeds to almost nothing!

I'd definitely recommend growing corn and squashes together! We've put a few sunflowers in aswell, to keep the squirrels from attacking the corn (they go for the sunflower seeds instead)

[Mikey & Annie]

Hi, I'm thinking of trying this method next year but I thought of sowing non-trailing squash, such as patty pan because I thought trailing squash would prove to be difficult to harvest between the corn. It also occurred to me to pinch out the growing tops of the beans once at the required height.

Does anyone else have any thoughts on this?

[richardbennett1952]

Hi, Last year I planted what I thought were b/nut squash amongst my sweetcorn, but turned out to be courgettes. (mix up with seed labels) Both did very well with lots of well rotted compost and watering every day, even if it had rained. Will definitely do the same again this year.

[airconednightmare]

I've never tried the 3 sisters, mainly because i don't like sweetcorn. However i did spend some time looking at the history of native American farming, they would plant 2-3 corn plants at the top of a small mound then place the beans and squash around the bottom. This approch makes the harvesting easier because you can walk inbetween the mounds.

The problem is this that, while this reduces the need to feed and weed around the crop, it takes up more space than planing them in seperate fields. This wasn't a problem for your average native american, especially seeing as they had no concept of property but is likely to be an issue in a modern garden.

[Mikey & Annie]

We're thinking of trying the 3-sisters this year (2011) for the first time and wondered if anyone had tried nipping the growing tips of the beans so they stayed below the height of the corn cobs. Would this still give a reasonable yield of runner beans whilst allowing the corn to be harvested?

[airconednightmare]

Originally Posted by Mikey & Annie

We're thinking of trying the 3-sisters this year (2011) for the first time and wondered if anyone had tried nipping the growing tips of the beans so they stayed below the height of the corn cobs. Would this still give a reasonable yield of runner beans whilst allowing the corn to be harvested?

like i said, i've never really experimented with the 3 sisters, but my gut instinct would be to plant dwarf beans. i know this wasn't what native americans would have done but it makes sense if the corn doesn't like to be used as a support.

i suspect problems in the uk result from the type of corn that is used, rather than the beans.

oh and having re-read the rest of the thread, lesley is right in saying that a lot of the crop was left to dry before eating, but they did eat it fresh. i just love the idea of planting 3 things which all provide something for each other, the beans give nitrogen to the corn and squash, the corn provides a support for the beans and the squash keeps the weeds down and it gets better, cooking the three together means we get all the nutrition from the corn, it took the europeans a good few decades to work that out the native americans were a few thousand years into a breading program at a time when we had just found out that trench digging with manure was a good idea

[malcolmx]

this sounds ideal for a warm climate and quick cropping for nomadic peoples . i often find that if the effort used to try to force something to work is channelled into more traditional meathods (of the uk )then just as good yeilds are the result .

[Lady of Shallots]

I am hoping to try this method on my allotment this year (my first year as an allotment holder!) as I have been getting really excited about the whole concept of companion growing. After reading all the threads here I am thinking I will try the Three Sisters technique out using sweetcorn, peas rather than beans, and a couple of different squash varieties (butternut, patty pan, yellow scallop, courgette, lebanese) and see what happens, and which ones do better than others. I think I will also plant peas and squash elsewhere in case it fails though, as the sweetcorn will be a bit of an experiment anyway! I will keep you informed on how I get along. Roll on spring...