Legumes are an awesome item to grow in your Phytonutrient Garden! Legumes are very healthy and delicious, I grow both green beans and snow peas in my garden every spring and fall. Not only do these fast growing plants provide tons of fresh goodies they also collect nitrogen from the air and fix it in the soil so that other plants can more readily use it! Today I want to talk about a fun method to grow your beans and peas, The Three Sisters method practiced by generations of Native Americans.
Growing a Three Sisters garden is a wonderful way to feel more connected to the history of this land, regardless of our ancestry.
Here is how it works:
Growing a Three Sisters garden is a wonderful way to feel more connected to the history of this land, regardless of our ancestry.
Here is how it works:
First the ladies of the tribe would go to the fields and about every three feet they would drop fish scraps and cover them with a mound of dirt. They would then drop in a few seeds of corn. As soon as sister corn was about a foot tall they would plant sister beans and sister squash. This ancient method of companion planting works because all three plants grow and support each other in some way.
Corn, the oldest sister, provides support. Beans are the nurturing sister. Beans take nitrogen from the air and 'fixes' it in the soil the plants are growing in. Squash (the traditional gourd grown was often pumpkin) provides protection. She keeps the soil moist and cools the soil mound the family grows in by acting as a living mulch, and her prickly vines and leaves keep pests away from the tender bean sprouts and corn. As these three sisters grow and intertwine together they create a strong barrier that is hard for the elements and pests to bring down, just like a supportive family structure.
Some native cultures would add a fourth sister, the sunflower plant. This sister supports the beans just as the corn does but she also lures birds away from the corn with her own large seed heads and she attracts even more insect pollinators.
Just for fun, give a three sisters garden a try!
Happy Gardening!!
Corn, the oldest sister, provides support. Beans are the nurturing sister. Beans take nitrogen from the air and 'fixes' it in the soil the plants are growing in. Squash (the traditional gourd grown was often pumpkin) provides protection. She keeps the soil moist and cools the soil mound the family grows in by acting as a living mulch, and her prickly vines and leaves keep pests away from the tender bean sprouts and corn. As these three sisters grow and intertwine together they create a strong barrier that is hard for the elements and pests to bring down, just like a supportive family structure.
Some native cultures would add a fourth sister, the sunflower plant. This sister supports the beans just as the corn does but she also lures birds away from the corn with her own large seed heads and she attracts even more insect pollinators.
Just for fun, give a three sisters garden a try!
Happy Gardening!!
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