Corn, beans and squash planted together
Planting a section of garden the way native Americans in our area used to plant their crops.
The corn, with pole beans and winter squash. The corn grows tall, the beans grow up the corn and the squash covers the ground. Doing this with the squash is to help keep the soil moister and keeps the weeds down. This will be field corn so most of the crops wouldn't be picked till fall.
Comments
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I've been trying to do this this spring..... first the squirrels dug up my beans, then the latest frost in 50 years killed the squash... then something ate the corn..... I'm replanting, trying again.
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Yes, I love these types of synergistic plantings! We actually have an article about Three Sisters Gardens on the TGN site here: https://thegrownetwork.com/three-sisters-gardens-grow-food-less-work/amp/
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My 3 sister planting came with mixed results. First year did great, next not so much, next better... Then, in fall there are the Five Cousins, working together to feed the earth.
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@dimck421 Tell me more about the Five Cousins.
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Most of my gardening is in raised beds or in small plots scattered all over my property. Because every bed is mostly a 4X4 4X10 , 6X10 and sizes like that this type of growing just isn't feasible because those melons on the ground grow everywhere.
So for me, vertical gardening is the only way to grow with all my crops which want so much space.
So my pumpkins, melons, cukes, squash, pole beans and anything like those are all trained from infancy they are going to grow up, not out.
With good heavy supports and daily checking to be sure you catch the tendrils as they mature, I can pretty much grow anything and since I've got everything going up out of the way, I can actually get in more crops than I was before I started vertical gardening.
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@LaurieLovesLearning , Hear ya go! 1. Daikon Radish, 2. Buckwheat, 3. Cowpea nitrogen fixing legume, 4. Corn, 5. Amaranth C3 & C4 carbonaceous grass, and Sorghum. You can chop and drop. You can harvest some, chop and drop some. If you still use a plow system, you can plow them under. Makes your soil syang! :) I had to do this with an area of red clay. I had my doubts, but it worked.
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@dimck421 Thanks! I had never heard of this before.
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Matt Powers (my Permaculture teacher) does this. Here is a video of his on the subject https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mD6DUiMPec&t=434s
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@judsoncarroll4 , I was unsure if I could link it up in accordance with rules, so I didn't and based my response only on my own experiences, using 5 cousins.
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No problem. Matt's stuff is great and his instruction clear. His free instructional materials (of which has done a ton) are welcome here, so far as I know.
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Yes, just to confirm, this is acceptable.
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I follow him lots and have for years. Matt Powers is totally skilled at educating others. He knows good information!
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