Three Sisters Method of Planting

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As many of you readers know, we don't do anything by conventional means on this Cockeyed Homestead. Last Sunday. I touched on the way I plant our garden. I do what works for me. I grow an adaptive garden which makes it easier for me to care and harvest my produce. I use the square foot gardening method to plant my garden in zone, but I'll also interplant these zones with multiple crops of vegetables and herbs.

Now I not only do square foot gardening and companion plant, but I throw succession planting also. With a small amount of growing space (less than 1/8 an acre), I can harvest what we need for a year. I get triple duty and harvest from the same square foot of space I have to garden in for optimum results. I don't make raised beds anymore but use the whole garden set up in "rooms" or different sections. The whole garden has had years of ground up tree stuff, hay, straw, cardboard placed on it for years to build and condition the hard packed clay soil into a nutrient dense growing medium. Why would I plant in single rows with plants two foot apart. To me, it's a waste of space.

Hey, what can I say. I'm the eclectic minded in all things. There are many ways to build a gardening and gardening. I do a little bit of most of them in my organic garden.

This leads me to today's topic, the three sisters method of planting. Now if you follow the square foot gardening method, you can plant four corn seeds in a square foot section, or nine climbing beans/peas, or one squash/pumpkin/gourd/sweet potato per square.

I don't do that. I expand my square to two feet. I'll plant three corn seeds 6" apart, seven bean/peas around it three weeks later, I'll plant more for a bumper crop harvest of dried legumes. I'll plant squash/pumpkin/gourd plants in each corner. In the spaces between the squashes/et al, I'll plant nasturtiums and marigold flowers to deter nasty insects and diseases. I'll skip the next square foot and do it again on down the row or section. I do leave myself 3' around each mound to maneuver.

This year around my 46 bi-colored corn, I'm planting black eyed peas, kidney beans, and baby lima beans to dry next week. Two weeks after they begin to sprout I'll go in and plant more bean/pea seeds. Since the peas and beans will be drying on the vines, I want to have plenty to harvest. I planted my corn transplants in my garden last week so next week I'll plant seeds and transplants of vegetables and flowers around the corn.

I honestly love this method of planting. It's a no brainer for weed and pest control. Yes, it takes up space in my little garden, but oh, the havest! In case you are wondering, I do not like pole or runner beans. No fencing required. The stalks will remain in place until the last of the beans.peas are harvested. 

Down in the orchard, I'll be planting my dent corn later in the summer. The ears will dry on the stalks and harvested before the first frost. This is my winter chicken feed and my grits/corn meal/ corn flour. We won't be 100% self sufficient in this, but close to 75% but that's better than having to purchase it all. Oh, Before I forget the mention it. I'll grow three black oil sunflower seed in the 6" center space in the corn. So I guess my cockeyed garden is FOUR SISTERS. 😄 I'll also be planting them in and around my dent corn too. My bunnies and chickens LOVE their snacks. 

Y'all have a blessed day!

Cockeyed Jo