3 SISTERS
THREE SISTERS
GARDENS
WHAT IS A THREE SISTERS GARDENS?
THE THREE SISTERS:
CORN, BEANS, AND SQUASH
THREE SISTERS GARDENS LINKS
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SECTION 1
WHAT IS A
THREE SISTERS
GARDEN?
It is an ancient method of gardening using an intercropping system
which grows corn, beans, and squash crops simultaneously in the same
growing area that is typically a rounded mound of soil, often called
a hill.
Corn is the oldest sister. She stands tall in the center.
Squash is the next sister. She grows over the mound, protecting her
sisters from weeds and shades the soil from the sun with her leaves,
keeping it cool and moist.
Beans are the third sister. She climbs through squash and then up corn
to bind all together as she reaches for the sun. Beans help keep the
soil fertile by coverting the sun's energy into nitrogen filled nodules
that grow on its roots. As beans grow they use the stored nitrogen as
food.
What is a Three Sisters Garden?
https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/2766718/three-sisters-garden
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SECTION 2
THE
THREE
SISTERS
CORN, BEANS, SQUASH
The Three Sisters: Corn, Beans, and Squash
How to Plant a Three Sisters Garden
Corn, beans, and squash are called the “three sisters.” Native Americans
always inter-planted this trio because they thrive together, much like
three inseparable sisters. Here’s how to plant a three sisters garden.
The Three Sisters Garden
By the time European settlers arrived in America in the early 1600s, the
Iroquois had been growing the “three sisters” for over three centuries.
The vegetable trio sustained the Native Americans both physically and
spiritually. In legend, the plants were a gift from the gods, always to
be grown together, eaten together, and celebrated together.
Each of the sisters contributes something to the planting. Together,
the sisters provide a balanced diet from a single planting.
As older sisters often do, the corn offers the beans needed support.
The beans, the giving sister, pull nitrogen from the air and bring it
to the soil for the benefit of all three.
As the beans grow through the tangle of squash vines and wind their way
up the cornstalks into the sunlight, they hold the sisters close together.
The large leaves of the sprawling squash protect the threesome by creating
living mulch that shades the soil, keeping it cool and moist and preventing
weeds.
The prickly squash leaves also keep away raccoons, which don’t like to step
on them.
Together, the three sisters provide both sustainable soil fertility as well
as a heathly diet. Perfection!
Tips for Growing The Three Sisters
To try them in your garden, in spring, prepare the soil by adding fish scraps
or wood ash to increase fertility, if desired.
Make a mound of soil about a foot high and four feet wide.
When the danger of frost has passed, plant the corn in the mound. Sow six
kernels of corn an inch deep and about ten inches apart in a circle of about
2 feet in diameter.
When the corn is about 5 inches tall, plant four bean seeds, evenly spaced,
around each stalk. About a week later, plant six squash seeds, evenly spaced,
around the perimeter of the mound.
The Three Sisters
https://www.almanac.com/content/three-sisters-corn-bean-and-squash#
Companion
Planting
Guide
https://www.almanac.com/content/companion-planting-guide
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Three
Sisters
(agriculture)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Sisters_(agriculture)
How to Plant
A
Three Sisters Garden
https://www.diynetwork.com/how-to/outdoors/gardening/how-to-plant-a-three-sisters-garden
Three
Sisters
Garden
https://kidsgardening.org/lesson-plans-three-sisters-garden/
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How to Plant
A
Three Sisters Garden
https://www.hgtv.com/design/outdoor-design/landscaping-and-hardscaping/how-to-plant-a-three-sisters-garden
Planting
A
Three Sisters Garden
http://www.nativetech.org/cornhusk/threesisters.html
National
Corn
Growers Association
https://www.ncga.com/home
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National
Corn
Day
1st of April
https://www.whatnationaldayisit.com/day/Corn/
July 3
NATIONAL EAT YOUR BEANS DAY
US
Dry Bean
Council
https://www.usdrybeans.com/
How to
Grow
Beans and Peas
http://www.wikihow.com/Grow-Beans-and-Peas
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SECTION 3
THREE
SISTER GARDENS
LINKS
Celebrate the Three Sisters: Corn, Beans and Squash
https://www.reneesgarden.com/blogs/gardening-resources/celebrate-the-three-sisters-corn-beans-and-squash
Companion and Interplanting
http://www.garden.org/ediblelandscaping/?page=201005-interplanting
Companion Planting: Three Sisters Garden Plans
https://www.growveg.com/guides/companion-planting-three-sisters-garden-plans/
Gourds & Squashes: Types, Uses, Benefits
http://blog.freepeople.com/2013/10/gourds-squashes-types-benefits/
Interplanting Crops in the Vegetable Garden
http://www.vegetablegardener.com/item/11167/interplanting-crops-in-the-vegetable-garden
Interplanting Vegetables
http://www.harvestwizard.com/2009/04/interplanting_vegetables_root.html
Know your pumpkins (and squash)
http://www.latimes.com/food/la-fo-squash-pictures-photogallery.html
The Three Sisters
http://www.birdclan.org/threesisters.htm
The Three Sisters
http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/sgc-cms/expositions-exhibitions/iroquoiens-iroquoians/vie_saisons_presentation-seasonal_life_presentation-eng.html
Three Sisters Garden
https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/2766718/three-sisters-garden
Three Sisters Garden
http://web.mnstate.edu/tah/lesson-plans/lesson_plans_for_2008-2009/native_american_vegetable_c_2.html
A Three Sisters Garden – Beans, Corn & Squash
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/special/children/a-three-sisters-garden.htm
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The Indigenous
Food and Agriculture
Initiative
https://www.indigenousfoodandag.com/
Readers Digest
https://www.rd.com/
Farmers Almanac
http://www.almanac.com/
Modern Farmer
http://modernfarmer.com/
The Encyclopedia of Life
http://eol.org/
PLANETKIDS.BIZ
http://www.planetkids.biz/
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