Three sisters planting

[bucktail]

Anyone use it? You plant corn in hills rather than rows then plant a hill of pole beans next to each hill of corn. You plant pumpkins or squash amongst this.
Wondering how well it works and if it could be used with cucumbers or other plants with ground vines.

 

[DaveFromMi]

It works pretty well as long as a strong wind doesn't blow the weighted corn stalks down.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

ate more than my fair share of squash when younger, a lot younger,...only pumpkins in my field went 1800+#s and the coons will nibble on EACH and EVERY cob the night BEFORE you harvest them...
other than that it's a nice idea.... as Mikey said 'try it, you'll like it'.

 

[sheepfarmer]

I tried it once, not a resounding success. Did learn the timing of planting the seeds is critical so there is something for beans to climb on when they need it.

 

[skeets]

Yep sheepfarmer hit it onthe head,, timing is everything. We did the 3 sisters for a lot of years when the girls were small, it was their garden. And true to the Indian way of planting, because this is how they read it in school,, when they still taught such things. At the bottom of every hole that was mounded up for the corn, they put in a couple small fish, mostly blue gills they/we caught. And some years it did well others not so much, the deer and coons will do the corn, and groundhogs will take care of the beans. The squash or pumpkins I never had anything bother