According to Iroquois legend,
corn, beans, and squash are three inseparable sisters who only grow and thrive
together. This tradition of interplanting corn, beans and squash in the same
mounds, widespread among Native American farming societies, is a sophisticated,
sustainable system that provided long-term soil fertility and a healthy diet to
generations. Growing a Three Sisters garden is a wonderful way to feel more
connected to the history of this land, regardless of our ancestry.
Corn, beans and squash were among the first important crops domesticated by
ancient Mesoamerican societies. Corn was the primary crop, providing more
calories or energy per acre than any other. According to Three Sisters legends
corn must grow in community with other crops rather than on its own - it needs
the beneficial company and aide of its companions.
The Iroquois believe corn, beans and squash are precious gifts from the Great
Spirit, each watched over by one of three sisters spirits, called the De-o-ha-ko,
or Our Sustainers". The planting season is marked by ceremonies to honor them,
and a festival commemorates the first harvest of green corn on the cob. By
retelling the stories and performing annual rituals, Native Americans passed
down the knowledge of growing, using and preserving the Three Sisters through
generations.
Corn provides a natural pole for bean vines to climb. Beans fix nitrogen on
their roots, improving the overall fertility of the plot by providing nitrogen
to the following years corn. Bean vines also help stabilize the corn plants,
making them less vulnerable to blowing over in the wind. Shallow-rooted squash
vines become a living mulch, shading emerging weeds and preventing soil moisture
from evaporating, thereby improving the overall crops chances of survival in dry
years. Spiny squash plants also help discourage predators from approaching the
corn and beans. The large amount of crop residue from this planting combination
can be incorporated back into the soil at the end of the season, to build up the
organic matter and improve its structure.Corn, beans and squash also complement
each other nutritionally. Corn provides carbohydrates, the dried beans are rich
in protein, balancing the lack of necessary amino acids found in corn. Finally,
squash yields both vitamins from the fruit and healthful, delicious oil from the
seeds.
Native Americans kept this system in practice for centuries without the modern
conceptual vocabulary we use today, i.e. soil nitrogen, vitamins, etc. They
often look for signs in their environment that indicate the right soil
temperature and weather for planting corn, i.e. when the Canada geese return or
the dogwood leaves reach the size of a squirrels ear. You may wish to record
such signs as you observe in your garden and neighborhood so that, depending on
how well you judged the timing, you can watch for them again next season!Early
European settlers would certainly never have survived without the gift of the
Three Sisters from the Native Americans, the story behind our Thanksgiving
celebration. Celebrating the importance of these gifts, not only to the Pilgrims
but also to civilizations around the globe that readily adopted these New World
crops, adds meaning to modern garden practices
Success with a Three Sisters garden involves careful attention to timing, seed
spacing, and varieties. In many areas, if you simply plant all three in the same
hole at the same time, the result will be a snarl of vines in which the corn
gets overwhelmed!