New Moon Greetings – June 18, 2023
Most gardeners have heard of the Three Sisters – a plant community made up of pole beans, corn, and squash, with benefits to all three plants. The Three Sisters have been utilized by many Native American cultures for thousands of years. Although the varieties of these plants vary depending on the location, the advantages are the same.
I feel like I’ve known about the Three Sisters forever as they are mentioned in many gardening books, but I’ve never tried this planting arrangement because corn is not one of my favorite veggies. However, I recently re-read Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer, and feel inspired to try the combination in my garden for the first time. In the book, the author eloquently describes some of the stories about the Three Sisters, their relationship to each other and the benefits of this companion planting.
Each plant brings something different to the relationship. Beans provide nitrogen to the soil which helps the other plants grow. Corn provides a sturdy “pole” for the beans to climb. Sprawling squash vines wind beneath the corn and beans. They enjoy the shade of the corn and beans and provide a living mulch that retains water and keeps the soil cool. Because some squash vines can be prickly, they also deter rabbits, squirrels, and other four legged garden mauraders.
The Experiment
So the Three Sisters are a proven plant combination. That part is not experimental. And I always grow an abundance of squash and beans each summer so I’m not worried about those plants producing. The experimental part for my Denver garden is really about the corn and the limited space.
My experiment has a 8×4 foot raised bed to spread out in. Since Denver weather can be chaotic with extremes in temperature and early frosts, I chose two short season varieties of corn, Orchard Baby and Fischer’s Sweet Corn, both from Rare Seeds. Orchard Baby matures in 65 days. The only down side is that the stalks grow to five feet so the beans may need some additional supports. Fischer’s Sweet Corn takes 70 days to mature and grows to six feet which will be better for the beans.
The pole beans are two Italian heirlooms purchased from Seeds of Italy, Emerald and Tongues of Fire. And the squash consist of my favorite winter squash – Austrian Butter pumpkins.
So far, they are all doing fine, in spite of the the over abundance of rain and the wide shifts in temperature so far this season. We’ve also had lots of hail but everything is protected by hail cloth. I am curious to see how this experiments goes. The other thing I am loving about this experiment is the reminder about the importance of relationships for both plants and humans.
Communities of Plants and People
The Three Sisters are just one example of companion plants – combinations of plants that assist one another in some way. By growing in proximity to each other they all thrive. It is easy to see the analogy to human relationships. Humans, like plants, live in an ecosystem that includes family, co-workers, neighbors, and others. Some of those relationships are optimal with benefits for everyone. And others might be more of a one sided relationship with one person gathering most of the advantages. Then of course there are the relationships that are challenging and maybe even toxic in some way. (This happens in the plant world as well.)
Humans thrive in healthy relationships. That should be obvious. Just like a gardener, we sometimes have to exert effort to find and nourish healthy relationships and leave (or at least limit the time with) the draining ones. On this new moon, take some time to be thoughtful about the relationships in your life. Like a good gardener, you may want to be proactive, make some changes & move some things around.
My wish for you is that all your relationships are like the Three Sisters – nurturing and rewarding for all. And I will keep you posted on my Three Sisters experiment later in the season.
*I am presenting at the Virtual Seed Savers Exchange Conference in July!
I am excited to announce that I will be presenting at the 43rd annual Seed Savers Exchange conference which takes place July 21 and 22. My session is, “Seeds as Guiding Lights of Recovery & Wellness”. The theme for the conference is “Seed the Future: Grow Something Good” with a focus on community building through seeds, farms, and gardens, seed stories, celebrating seeds, as well as technical aspects of growing, and seed saving. If you are a gardener and a person in recovery, check out the conference. There are lots of great presentations. Click here for more information and registration: https://registration.socio.events/e/2023sseconference #SeedTheFuture #GrowSomethingGood #SeedSaversExchange #VirtualConference #recovery #wellness
Lunar Blog Post Series
This post is part of my lunar blog series. Each full moon I write about one plant, many of them are plants featured in my book, Growing Mindful. Each new moon I write about a topic related to gardens, mindfulness, and spirituality. For more details and a list of past lunar blog posts, click here.
I look forward to hearing all summer how your experiment is going. I like all of those vegetables, and my mother used to serve them as succotash – or at least beans and corn. I’m reporting that my milkweed (the kind with orange flowers) is doing much better this year than previous, having come back in greater amount and strength – already quite big. I can only assume the very cool and wet spring/early summer is helpful to milkweed. The catmint (my second year) came back huge. I hope I get frequent visits of the hummingbird moth at dusk once flowers fully bloomed, as I did last year.
Debbie, I will keep you posted. Sonya is excited I’m growing corn. And that is cool about the milkweed! It has to be loving all the rain.