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The Three Sisters

An Ancient Garden Tradition
A guide to companion planting corn, beans, and squash
By Eric J Frank for use as a community resource and as a teaching tool for Harmony Commons Organic Farm in cooperation with Big Water Learning Center.

The Sisters: Corn, Beans, and Squash

Corn zea maiz

No other vegetable smells like sun and tastes like summer more than sweet corn. We have thousands of years of indigenous American gardeners to thank for this annual treat which developed into its diverse varieties today via selection of the most preferred traits over time. Traditionally, corn has been used in much more diverse ways than just fresh eating boiled or roasted. Like its two siblings, corn is believed to have originated in Meso America and Mexico; all gifts from the creator. The wild ancestor of corn, teosinte, still exists in Middle-America. Corn in its varied forms is used for flour, ground into meal, making hominy, popping corn, and parching. The varieties are generally referred to as sweet, flint, flour, dent, parch, starch, and pop. Corn has high nitrogen needs, and therefore requires thought and planning for site selection and preparation. A good site should be well managed for weeds and prepared with a nitrogen fixing cover crop or dressed with a high nitrogen organic fertilizer. Native gardeners here in the Americas discovered long ago the benefits of sistercropping beans and corn in the same mounds because beans naturally fixed nitrogen and the corn provided structure for beans to climb. Corn appreciates generous amendments such as nitrogen-rich composted manure, and will have higher yields when given its deserved pampering. A top-dressing of alfalfa meal once the corn is knee high will also help to boost growth and yields. A major pest for corn growers is the corn earworm. Earworms are easily put in check by applying a few drops of mineral oil to the silks, and though it is a time consuming chore, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of not spraying nasty chemical pesticides on this coveted crop. Applying the oil too early, however, will also prevent easy pollination of the silks which may result in poorly filled ears; the ears will be missing kernels once mature or stop altogether before filling to the end of the ear. Wait nearly until the earworms appear in your locale and apply the oil when the ears are formed yet immature. Corn earworm migrates from south to north at the end of the corn season, and oiling shortly before it reaches your locale will show the best results. As an open pollinated plant, corn crosses easily with other varieties, which means the gardener must separate different varieties to ensure purity when saving seed. A single corn plant will produce millions of grains of pollen that are microscopic in size and able to be transported for miles on the wind. Separation can be accomplished by distance or time. Many experts say that 2 miles are required for separation of varieties; however, in the Midwest where we have millions of acres in corn, it is imaginable that on heaviest wind days there are no places that escape potential cross-pollination. For this reason, many seed saving pros recommend bagging the ears and hand pollinating the ears designated for next years seed. Hand pollination is a time and labor intensive chore, but

commercial hand-pollination products make it easier and more successful. Another possible way to accomplish separation is by time. Planting corn with different maturation dates or in succession several weeks apart are how time separation is possible. This may also be a possibility for seed purity in heavy corn growing regions by planting northern native flint varieties that tend to be very early, or some of the earliest heirloom sweet corn varieties. In many cases, however, the only way to ensure seed purity will be via hand pollination and bagging. Corn also needs an extra commentary on the dangers of GMO (genetically modified organism) genes present in the BioTech industry commercial corn seed. These genes are potentially unstable over time, are completely unnatural mutations that often have genes forced into them from very different organisms such as fish, fungus, or bacteria, and could cause allergic reactions in people and animals. GMO crops generally arent understood as to how they may interact if they migrate to other biological organisms in the environment, or how they may affect the greater gene pool of the intended crop over time because the studies to have an in-depth understanding of the technology havent been done. Mutations do occur naturally and are a way new crops develop over time as well as being the basic theory for speciation, but these manipulated crops are sometimes called Frankenfoods because theyre birthed in the laboratory using a gene gun, viruses, or electricity to invade cellular DNA with the intended new genetic sequence. Unlike plant husbandry, the new genotype isnt bred in by careful selection and plant breeding; rather, the new crops genes are forced into them by breaking our pact with a sanctified Mother nature. GMO crops in our fields at present are a symbol of human arrogance and lack of wisdom. Some GMO crops contain the Terminator gene, which will render seed unviable for saving and growing-out the next season. If these sterilizing genes were to become widely distributed in the gene pool of a given population such as corn which is grown widely on every inhabited continent, they could ruin and extinct our modern corn and its wild ancestor teosinte. Worse yet, if they are unstable enough to be communicated into the gene pool of the greater biota, it could be disastrous to the sanctity of the living world on a global scale. Many powerful corporations have invested billions of dollars into developing these many GMO crops. And though they continue to fail to show any real advantages or returns in terms of yield or functionality these invested companies continue to push these little destructor seeds on the worlds small farmers, grow them themselves on monstrous industrial farms, and are one of the most serious threats posed to contemporary civilization and to all of posterity. When there is GMO contamination in a non-GMO farmers fields, not only is the crop ruined and much less marketable, and the open-pollinated seed ruined for saving, but these big companies like Monsanto will then sue the farmers whose property was damaged by the GMO pollen, and the small farmers may actually be court ordered to pay fines for patent property theft (the genetically modified genes) to the fatcats whom wrecked their crop and then go on to add insult to injury. This is evil. It is a double insult to the health of people, rural economies, to the thousands of years of heritage in the sacred corn plant, and to a healthy environment. If you eat corn and arent growing your own or buying organic corn products you are supporting the GMO industry.

Beans phaseolus spp.

The modern green bean and soup beans most common to us are inherently American gifts originating in Mexico and Meso America, which were then dispersed across both the North and South American continents amongst indigenous peoples. Beans are an ancient traditional staple crop, and have traditionally been eaten as green snap beans, fresh shelled beans, and of course as dry beans, however the stringless green bean is a much more recent development. Useful not only as a nutritious protein rich food, the dazzling colors and patterns amongst the spectrum of beautiful beans likens them to jewels or art, and it becomes obvious why native cultures once used them for currency as well. Pole beans are the classical component of Three Sisters gardens, which like all beans and other legumes naturally add nitrogen to the soil via nitrogen-fixing rhizobium bacteria living in root nodules of beans. Corn depletes the soil of a lot of nutrients, especially nitrogen, and beans help to replace the nitrogen that corn takes out. The corn in turn provides sturdy, natural structure for the beans to climb and thus maximize their production. To maximize the nitrogen fixing effect of beans, treat them with a rhizobium inoculant prior to planting. Being native to the warmer climes means beans will not tolerate freezing temperatures, so plant after all danger of frost has passed, which is true for corn and squash too. Soaking your seeds the night before you plant is also a good way to insure good germination, and will help hold onto a dry rhizobium inoculant. If beans are left on the vine to continue maturing, the plants will stop flowering believing they have satisfied their annual goal of reproducing, which is fine if the crop is intended as a seed crop. Beans will continue to flower and fruit for months though if they are picked consistently once they begin to bear, which maximizes the yield and quantitatively increases the nitrogen fixing root nodules, so harvest frequent and thorough. Working in the bean garden during wet conditions however will liken the spread of fungal diseases. Beans have a flower that is termed perfect because it has both male and female parts on the same flower, which means that it self pollinates and is unlikely to cross. For this reason, a gardener may have as many varieties of phaseolus vulgaris, phaseolus lunatus (lima beans), phaseolus acutifolius, or one of many other phaseolus species with selfpollinating perfect flowers as space will allow. This allows the gardener to create a masterpiece assortment of beans, which are especially impressive as dry collections. Some beans other than phaseolus vulgaris, lunatus, and acutifolius varieties will cross because they have open pollinating flowers requiring pollinators like bumble and honey bees to transport pollen from male to female flowers. Examples are Iroquois, Aztec, Sunset, Scarlet, and Salmon runner beans of the species phaseolus coccineus and phaseolus multiflorus. The key word when selecting seed is runner bean, which usually indicates a type of bean that is open pollinated and has a larger blossom to attract pollinators. They are totally worth having in the garden because they are prized for their ornamental blossoms, and beautiful and delicious beans, although care must be taken to separate them if seed is to be saved. The great majority of beans that are familiar in the garden and at the market are of the vulgaris specie, there is also a diversity of limas

amongst the lunatus varieties, and the acutifolius specie is confined to smaller bush beans known as Teparies. Tepary beans are much smaller than other dry beans, are native to mountainous high desert regions such as the Colorado Plateau, the Sonoran Desert, the Sierra Madre, and Mexicos central Plateau, and tend to be very drought tolerant. There are also many other bean species and varieties indigenous to other continents as well.

Squash cucurbita spp.

Squash gives to corn and beans what Neil Young adds to Crosby, Stills and Nash; the squash fills in the gaps in colors, textures, and nutrition that is left by corn and beans to form a complete food suite. It has a different sweet than corn, sometimes starchy like a tuber, packed with vitamins, and with a uniqueness that is truly only squash. Squashes form a complete protein and balanced diet eaten with corn and beans. Like its counterparts, many squashes can be extremely attractive and decorative, but it is such a tragedy to think of all of the wonderful, delicious pumpkins and other squashes relegated to decoration and thus never fulfilling their crown goal of sublime sustenance. The four primary cultivated species of squash, c. pepo, c. maxima, c. moschata, and c. mixta, are all native to the Americas. The four different species generally wont cross with one another, so the gardener may plant four varieties without worry of crossing and be able to save seed. The exception is mixta and moschata, and they will cross only in specific circumstances. Simply plant these two at opposite ends of a larger garden, or forego the mixta altogether unless a crop for seeds or containers is needed, because of the four cultivated squashes--the mixtas are the least appreciable as a food crop. Squash are an important member of the Three Sisters triad bequeathed upon people as gifts from the creator. The Sisters have been staples for peoples diversely scattered in the Americas along with potatoes, quinoa, amaranth, sunflowers, sunchokes (Jerusalem artichokes), yacon, sweet potatoes, wapato, and manioc (cassava) amongst many others. When interspaced with corn and bean mounds, the squash spread out to help conserve moisture and shade-out weeds, and the prickly texture of the stems thwart pests such as raccoons and squirrels with soft hands. Many pepo varieties are favorite summer squashes like zucchini, yellow (summer) crookneck, and patty pans, while others are used like winter squashes such as acorn, delicata, spaghetti, and a wide variety of pumpkins. In fact, the acorn, patty pan, and many pumpkins are some of the oldest documented native heirlooms still in existence. Some are also used for gourds that are decorative rather than edible, but almost all pepos display vibrant greens, yellows, and orange. They have tender fine flesh as young succulent vegetables, and develop sweet juicy flesh into maturity with hardened rinds and woody stems, which frequently store well, though not as long as other winter squashes. The maxima specie has the largest number of varieties of winter squashes, but they are also used as summer squashes in some parts of the world. Popular types include the

Hubbards, turbans, buttercups, some pumpkins, the banana group, a blue group more common in the Southern Hemisphere, and are all known by their corky stems. They tend to be among the sweetest, starchiest, and most dense fleshed fruits and come in the most different colors. Maximas frequently have seasons and climate requirements appropriate for our northern locale, although they probably originated from wild ancestors in subtropical South and Meso America. Of the many lines of maximas that are familiar, one particularily recognizable one is known by their globular orange fruits that come to a point ranging from mild to a football-esque point colored blue or green in a starburst pattern such as the Arikara, Mandan, Hopi, and Lakota squashes, whose similar genetics and blue star show up in a very large number of similar contemporary varieties of this species. The moschatas generally prefer a warmer subtropical climate, but there are many varieties fit for our region that are a great way to add an extra niche to the garden. Well known ones include butternuts, which were bred out of a larger old-time family of favorites known as winter crooknecks; locally the Pennsylvania Dutch crookneck, similar to Canada Crookneck, has performed well and is an excellent overall variety reaching sizes of 15-20 lbs with dense, smooth, sweet flesh. Another important variety is the Seminole pumpkin, which was an important semi-domesticated variety used by indigenous cultures of the Southeast and is still found growing wild in the Everglades. It has been grown locally with limited success, but is a worthy specimen to have in the seed bank. Most of the squashes of this specie are tan or buff colored, few greenish varieties, and some of the cheese varieties are a muted orange. They have a harder ridged stem like the pepos and several store very well. The mixtas a.k.a. argyrosperma are least palatable of the squashes as a garden crop. Some are o.k. at best, but their greatest value is for long lasting decorations, containers, and edible seeds. They are somewhat closely related to moschatas, so they prefer a longer, warmer and wetter climate, but some may be grown here like the Illinois cushaw and the Tennessee Sweet Potato. The Illinois cushaw is also one of the only mixta varieties with relatively worthy palatability; it is similar in texture to zucchini, and better used as immature.

Sunflower helianthus spp.

Though not officially one of the Sisters, the sunflower has been a staple of Native Americans diets for centuries, and is an essential component to the Three Sisters garden, providing an alternative source of high quality protein and essential fatty-acids. It is probably not included in the Three Sisters mythology because it was domesticated by indigenous peoples of North America separate from the crops coming out of Meso America and Mexico. Buffalo Bird Woman in the famous book about her garden describes sunflower-meal balls made of ground seeds that were a traditional rejuvenating energy food carried by warriors or travelers to be used in times of fatigue and weariness, which would then quickly and fully restore the consumer to full vigor and vitality.

The stunning nobility of a sunflower bloom inspires awe and emits a powerful spiritual presence in the garden. They too have been used traditionally for more than food; the Hopi make a black dye out of the seeds, and the petals and blooms are both symbols of fertility used as decoration for ceremonies. The chewy xylem inside the bark is considered a medicine by indigenous cultures, and the tough fibrous stalk can be used a number of ways. The petals, by-the-way, are also an excellent salad green eaten fresh.

Planting the Three Sisters Garden

The first step in creating a Three Sisters garden is site selection. Good sites should be well drained and in a sunny location. These crops are native to fertile river valleys and will do best in loamy soils with a high amount of organic matter enriched with compost. They perform well too in sandier soils, and in heavy clay soils, but it is well-worth the gardeners effort to improve the soil by working it looser and consistently increasing the content of organic material. After selecting the site the gardener has several options for mound creation and layout and may be best determined by the local soil conditions. Low-till/No-till methods are preferred, but plowing a field may be advantageous for larger gardens. If a low-till method is sought, find a site that can be kept mown and only dig or till in the places where mounds will be built. Mounds about 12 high and slightly concave should be constructed in alternating and offset rows of corn-and-beans, and then squash. In driest regions, keeping the hills minimal in height and flush with ground, or double digging the site so that seeds may be planted at below ground level in a slightly depressed concave trough may be necessary. Spacing should be about 4 5 feet between mounds for a compact garden or 6 8 feet amongst squash mounds in larger gardens planted with robustly vining varieties of squash and beans. The rows of mounds will alternate with corn and beans in one row, and squash in the next. Traditionally the northern-most row was planted in sunflowers. Variations to the garden may include a row of melons or cucumbers, as well as bush habit squashes such as acorn, butternut, and delicata around the borders to conserve space while adding a layer of protection against furry garden raiders. Sunflowers and corn can also be planted with cucumbers for trellising, and either the corn or sunflowers can be planted with English garden peas such as Sugarsnaps. A creative gardener could also try sunchokes along the north border, but be warned they spread! Some sources will say to plant beans with sunflowers, but they actually have contra-indications that make them non-companions. The following is an example of a Three Sisters garden layout:

Su CB Sq CB Sq CB Sq CB Sq CB Me CB CB CB CB CB

Su CB Sq CB Sq CB Sq CB Sq CB Me

Su CB Sq CB Sq CB Sq CB Sq CB Me

Su CB Sq CB Sq CB Sq CB Sq CB Me

Su CB Sq CB Sq CB Sq CB Sq CB Me

Su CB Sq CB Sq CB Sq CB Sq CB Me

Su = sunflower

CB = corn and beans

Sq = squash

Me = melon

C C B B C B C B

The corn and beans mounds should be planted with four corn seeds about 6 inches apart in a circle around the center of each mound, one to each of the four sacred directions N, S, E, and W, after all danger of frost has passed. Four bean seeds should be planted in the same diamond pattern shifted to the south side of the corn circle (see previous diagram) on the day that the germinated corn seeds break the soil surface, usually about 5 -7 days after planting. This is a good time to replant any mounds that didnt have all four corn seeds germinate. The squash and sunflowers should be planted at the same time as the original corn planting. For some of the smaller bean varieties it is permissible to plant the same day as the corn. A great practice that increases germination rates is to soak seeds overnight before planting. Beans will also benefit from being dusted with a rhizobium inoculant, which will make the nitrogen fixing bacteria available to them right from the start. All seeds should be well watered after planting and kept moist, but not wet. The squash mounds should also be planted with four seeds to the four sacred directions, and then thinned to the strongest two plants per hill after germination. Sometimes crows, ravens, and rooks will do this for you so it may work to let them go until they are a few sets of leaves old before deciding which ones to pull. The sunflower mounds can be planted with four seeds per and thinned to two each, or as a solid double row of sunflowers. If melons are to be added, the south row is good for ensuring enough sunlight and hence heat for melons, cucumbers may prefer cooler shaded interior rows, and both may benefit by being to the interior and thus protected by squash vines. Likewise the Three Sisters Garden may be an effective strategy for larger gardens with Three Sisters gardens as borders around a valuable interior vegetable or fruit patch because the prickliness of squash tends to repel small mammals. If a row-crop type of garden is intended, simply modify the mounds into ridges with alternating rows as in the classic Three Sisters. A good strategy is to then over-plant the corn and thin to every 11 in double rows (2) per ridge, with an approximately equal bean to corn ratio. If the ridge method is to be used, it is very important to have them oriented perpendicular to the slope like contour lines to prevent erosion unless you are so lucky to have found a level place for your garden. Then the preference for orientation would be N S to maximize available light and pollination due to westerly prevailing winds. The corn needs to be planted dense enough that all of the silks will get pollinated and ensure that the ears fill to the tips with kernels. To accomplish this, a more square-ish or circular block planting with length equivalent to width is definitely advantageous over long narrow layouts that wont provide the necessary density for pollination. Four rows of corn are frequently cited as a minimum. Even with all of the variations mentioned above, it is the authors belief that the most classical Three Sisters involving a flint, flour, dent or popcorn, dry beans, and mostly winter squashes are the most effective stratagem because the need to harvest sweet corns, green beans, cucumbers, and peas at earlier dates can mean the longer maturing crops may become damaged through the repeated agitation of harvesting; the exception would be melons which generally require a longer season as well.

It is important that all three crops plus sunflowers get their needed water, though all are tolerant to varying degrees of droughtiness. Most important is to keep all of the mounds moist during and past germination. Other maintenance includes directing the squash vines to grow equally spaced, cutting vines a few weeks prior to harvest to encourage maturation of the established fruits, and trellising bean vines to hang from the corn stalks. Mineral oil applied to corn silks will help prevent corn earworm, and other pests such as the squash borer beetle shouldnt be as much of a problem with inter-planted crops because inter-planting confuses pests by breaking up their searching patterns. If pests do become a problem, there is an organic gardening book at your nearest library that should have information on beneficial insects, beneficial borders, trap crops, and other biological controls including organic pesticides; also, there are many public services such as ATTRA, other State Extension services, and NRCS that provide information on biological means to pest control.

The Domestic Crop and Seed Saving

Domestic crops exist because over time, our ancestors chose to replant the seeds of their staple foods, then to replant only the best seeds of those foods based on size, taste, vigor, and eventually more refined traits such as earliness, special colorations, or altogether new varieties from mutations and crosses. Over time the various ways that humans selected seeds to produce better crops from their progeny evolved into the rich and diverse endowment of fantastic produce we may still enjoy to the present. Relationships develop between plants and animals that help create and evolve them both. Humans also arent the lone plant domesticators. Any plant that produces a fruit attractive to any wide variety of animal life will then have the likelihood to be better represented in the future if its seeds are carried off and dispersed by its animal patrons. The progeny of these plants that then better display the attractive fruit qualities will continue to be distributed, hopefully grow into mature plants, and over time develop into a plant with a specific relationship to its counterpart fauna that has been selecting it, and thus domesticating it. The earliest farming humans likely didnt have any blooming idea that they were developing domestic crops, but as time wore on and the burgeoning agrarian populations arose, the humans uniquely swollen grey mass gave them the consciousness to understand what it was they were participating in with crop selection and domestication. By applying this knowledge, highly refined crops with specific traits have been developed and handed down generation to generation over the ages improving all the while. Today we grow many of the same crops for food that have been staples for peoples all over the world for many millennia, and to them owe a debt of gratitude for this banquet of modern crops (Diamond). Saving seed puts one in line with an unbroken heritage of seed savers spanning several millennia, and is a direct connection to our ancient human counterparts. Saving seed is also the essential step in ensuring that this years crop will go to feed we people into perpetuity. In contemporary times, some dont even know what plant grows their

favorite fruit or vegetable, much less where in the world it has come from, or how to grow the food themselves. The place to begin is with seeds, and experienced gardeners know the value of saving their seed for the next season. More importantly, in a modern world where it is uncommon knowledge to understand how food is produced and distributed, the mass of humanity is in a dependent situation upon those who are in charge of the food, and it is a potentially very dangerous situation to be in. Suppose our modern economic system suddenly failed, or as weve seen with the oil industry in recent years, which is what our industrial agriculture system is based on and completely dependent upon, suddenly hiccups and its vulnerabilities become painfully immediate. Not only are fossil fuel byproducts reprocessed into fertilizers that are dumped on our fields, but they are one of the most important links in getting food from the field, to the co-op or purchasing agent, which then trucks the product to a processor, where it then goes to a warehouse or distribution center, which is then sent to another warehouse for the grocer or better yet Wal-Mart where the food will ultimately be sold--and this has been an abbreviated chain without the numerous other further movements and processing and distributions in the chain. Imagine now that only a small handful of companies control much of this distribution chain; Wal-Mart itself encompasses nearly the whole chain in some instances. If we have a fuel emergency, what will your family do when it runs out of food? If there isnt a warehouse in your neighborhood when this crisis hits, your family is going to have the comfort of being able to loot and pillage with a very large mob of people first cleaning out the grocery stores, and then trying to figure out where the warehouse is. The problem is that the average urban area with all of its warehouses and grocery stores is estimated to on average have only enough food for the local populace for six days. This just in time shipping and receiving schedule is fabulous from an economists perspective, but terrible from a survivalists. With the current system of highly centralized food production and distribution, our population is at extreme risk and could be very susceptible to a food security disaster, especially in the major metropolitan areas. That is unless your family is one of the few that is saving seed, growing a garden and eating fresh fruits and veggies in every season, and putting as much food by as possible for the winter. It may not guarantee an easy transition into the post-apocalyptic society after a wide-spread emergency, but it may certainly help your family to get through it and have the tools to be prepared for what might come next or at worst have some independence in an oil dependent modern society. Saving seed is the foundation of our modern civilization and continues to be the key to our survival into posterity. Now in reality, gardening isnt supposed to be this heavy; rather it should be light and enjoyable like the soils we hope to plant in. The fact of the matter is that the power and control exerted onto the masses by a limited and relatively small number of the elite in society has become so insidious that it is a threat in every corner of our lives. But, by choosing to not participate in that system we can free ourselves of its bonds and therefore restore the spiritual link between life and living, between humans and life, and between ourselves and the garden. Reclaim control over where your food comes from. Love, Live, Garden.

List of resources:
Buffalo Bird Womans Garden: The classic account of Hidatsa American Indian gardening techniques. By Gilbert L. Wilson, 1917 (1987); Minnesota Historical Society Press, St. Paul, MN. Companion Planting: Basic Concepts and Resources. By George Kuepper and Mardi Dodson, July 2001; ATTRA, Fayetteville, AR. Guns, Germs, and Steel. By Jared Diamond, 2005; W.W. Norton and Co., Inc., New York, NY. Intercropping Principles and Production Practices. By Preston Sullivan, August 2003; ATTRA, Fayetteville, AR. Seed to Seed: Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners. By Suzanne Ashworth, 2002; Seed Savers Exchange, Decorah, IA.