3 Sisters Garden, 2024, Year 2

Last year I planted a 3-sisters garden. I posted about it here:
https://permies.com/t/233039/Fall-prep-spring-sisters-garden

There were a lot more than just corn, squash and beans. Potatoes, tomatoes, tobacco, sunflower, melons etc. all grew among the corn. I was pretty happy with the outcome and will be doing it again this year. Planted 72 potatoes today. Saw volunteer tomato, sunflower, and peas already growing.

I have about 100 hills already made to plant the corn in. Most were made last year, but I expanded by a few rows for this year. Corn will go in early May. Hopefully the potatoes will be well along by then. Hills are 4-5 feet apart (roughly 1.5 meters) leaving plenty of space for the other crops to grow. Squash and beans will follow the corn later in May.

The garden:

I would rotate where you plant the corn. It's quite hard on the soil. The beans help a lot. But rotation is better.

This will be my fifth year growing three sisters -- I started with mounds and after the second year switched to a big patch and this year I'm moving in the direction of the milpa. I've found that with a little added compost, and no rotation, the corn does fine year on year. Maybe it takes longer than I've had to deplete nutrients. Or maybe by selecting and replanting seeds that seem to thrive in these conditions, I'm building a variety that tolerates it. I'm not sure. but I'm not yet seeing anything that would make me think I need to rotate the corn out, even though I'm aware that's a long-regarded best practice.

Jim Fry wrote:I would rotate where you plant the corn. It's quite hard on the soil. The beans help a lot. But rotation is better.

Normally I would say you are right. But this is an experiment.

One main object of contention in the scientific papers I read was how long the Native Americans used their fields before moving. Some say just a few years, other argue for 10-20 years and longer.

Another question is, how much did production decline year after year in unrotated fields with this style of farming. No agreement among the scholars who have studied this.

A third issue is the work load required in this style of farming. I am keeping careful records of each time I visit the field, what I do, and how long I spend, and also rating the degree of physical effort required.

Very few scientists have actually made the effort to go out and plant the garden and see what happens, year after year. Most of the papers amount to little more than guesswork. The ones who have planted 3-sisters gardens have not kept them up more than a few years, and they didn't really use the original techniques; they used tractors and plows and NPK.

At one time, I spent much more time among Seneca people than I did Boat People. ~This is a story they told.

For a long time, the people planted their gardens and grew wonderful food. There was much abundance. And everyone was happy. But bit by bit, they noticed that the foods were not quite so abundant. And each year they seemed to grow less well. Finally, this became such a problem that the Heron People noticed the Standing Upright Peoples upset. So the Heron Chief went to the Human People to talk.

When the Upright People recounted their problem, the Heron Chief explained a simple solution. He said, "Go to River and catch a Fish and put Fish under each mound you plant of the Three Sisters.". And that is how the Seneca People learned to fertilize their crops. In honor of this great Lesson, the Seneca created a new Clan in their Nation. The Heron Clan. And it became the responsibility of the Heron Clan to teach all the following generations of Seneca how to plant and raise wonderful, life-giving gardens.  

~~But the story doesn't end there. A long while later a new people arrived. The Boat People. And the Boat People did much the same as the Seneca had done. They planted their gardens in the new rich soil, and the plants grew well. But in time, the soil and plants grew weak. So, once again, the Heron Clan taught their Lessons to the new people. And still to this day, gardeners have the opportunity to learn the lessons taught so long ago to the Seneca by the Heron.

Measured the garden. 3168 square feet (294 square meters). That's about 7% of an acre. There are 204 hills for the corn.

I measured the hill distance from center to center. Quite a lot of variation, from 3 feet to almost 6 feet apart (1-2 meters, roughly).

Scraped the weeds, mostly chickweed, up onto the corn hills. Planted peas, beans and soybeans today. This is very early. There is a strong chance that these will freeze. But planting American Indian-style, with a dibble into raised hills, is very easy. If they all die of frost, a quick and easy job to replant.

Weather permitting, corn planting will commence in the first week of May. I plan to plant 6-7 seeds per hill, and then weed back any weak, damaged or sickly-looking plants to about 3 plants per hill. This will give me 8700 plants/acre. This is low, but it worked very well last year when my production was 60 bushels/acre, good for an open-pollinated variety. It allowed plenty of sunshine for the other crops.

Frost at night. A few potatoes starting to pop up.

Yesterday April 30 planted 204 hills of open-pollinated flint corn. The majority was from selected purple ears from last year. The remainder is from other ears that had things I liked, larger ears, or glass gem. Some of the beans, peas and soybeans are sprouting in the same hills.

It took about 5 hours of labor to clear the weeds with a hoe and then plant the corn. Planting was slow, because I was putting 7 seeds per hill on average, and each seed separated from the others.

Next will plant squash and more beans.

Usually wait a bit later to plant, but this year is early and warm. Hopefully we won't get a late frost.

This year I added two community garden plot to the the other gardens I'm "tending".
It's an opportunity to boost this new garden and socialize, especially with my sister, with whom I'm sharing the plots.

Because it is remote and we are busy people, we were aiming for a 3 sister's garden.
We think of the three as long season plants left to produce storage crops.
Unfortunately I winter sowed squash and and it's now ready to go in.
I also started some runner beans in an indoor setup provided by the community garden program 😀.
They are also ready to be planted.
If I had started corn at the same time,  maybe it would have been fine,  but as is I don't see how the three can thrive together.

William Bronson wrote: This year I added two community garden plot to the the other gardens I'm "tending".
It's an opportunity to boost this new garden and socialize, especially with my sister, with whom I'm sharing the plots.

Because it is remote and we are busy people, we were aiming for a 3 sister's garden.
We think of the three as long season plants left to produce storage crops.
Unfortunately I winter sowed squash and and it's now ready to go in.
I also started some runner beans in an indoor setup provided by the community garden program 😀.
They are also ready to be planted.
If I had started corn at the same time,  maybe it would have been fine,  but as is I don't see how the three can thrive together.

My general practice is corn first, then beans when the corn has sprouted, then squash any time later. This seems to have been how it was done in ancient times as well, from what little evidence exists. The reasoning is that corn is the primary crop, and competition will reduce the corn yield, so plant first to allow strong establishment.

However, if maximum corn yield is not the goal, then it probably doesn't matter which gets planted first. Squash in particular can grow up onto and smother corn. I control the squash by walking the garden and moving the growing vine ends away from the corn plants. By mid-season it no longer matters.

Climbing beans up a corn plant, 2023.

Welp, I went ahead and planted them two feet on center,leaving room between them for corn and squash.
I figure anything worth doing is worth doing wrong enough times to get it right.

Planted beans, squash, zucchini, cantaloupe today. Perfect weather, sprinkling as I planted, then a short heavy rain that started seconds after I finished..

Two types of cantaloupes. One was seed my daughter sent me a few years ago, really giant cantaloupes, like 15 pounds! Last year I misplaced that bag of saved seeds so didn't get replanted. Found them this spring, hope they sprout. The others are seeds I have been planting back maybe 10 years, melons shaped like footballs. Roughly 68 cantaloupe hills, between the corn hills.

Roughly 100 squash seeds. This is way too many for home use, but my goal is to have the ground surface completely covered by a tangle of beans and squash and cantaloupes, as early in the season as possible. Last year had some squash bugs, mostly well-controlled by hand picking. Will see how that goes this year.

I want the ground to look like this, from last year's garden:

William Bronson wrote:Welp, I went ahead and planted them two feet on center,leaving room between them for corn and squash.
I figure anything worth doing is worth doing wrong enough times to get it right.

A fine sentiment!
Did you plant the corn in hills, or on the flat? How many seeds in a group?

I haven't had a choice plant the corn  yet.
That is one of 5 garden sites I'm growing on...
I will planting them in mounds under cloches.

I changed my mind

The "wintersown" corn came in strong, so I popped  them in the ground, along with some new bean sprouts and "old" squash.

Corn sprouting, 10 days after planting. Lots of rain, reasonably warm.

Interested to see if planting beans and peas earlier than the corn makes a noticeable difference. May have to weed  out some if they seem too thick. Squash and cantaloupe not sprouted yet.

Potatoes, planted mid-April.

Corn, potatoes, and weeds. I am seeing some nice volunteers from last year's crops, tomatoes, tobacco, sunflowers, and other flowers. Have to weed carefully!

Update. Corn is looking great. Planted April 30, some is now over 6 feet tall (2 meters). Most is about 4 feet tall. The local farmers' hybrid corn is, surprisingly, shorter than my corn.

Had poor results from other companion crops. The animals and bugs mostly destroyed 2 plantings of squash and cantaloupe, and many of the beans and peas. Groundhogs and deer. Deer also ate the tops off of most of the sunflowers. So my trial of planting the companions first and corn later was a dud. The most recent planting seems to be doing a lot better. I think the animals have a harder time finding the tasty sprouts when the corn is taller.

I also replanted about 20 hills out of 200, that had poor germination or the sprouts were destroyed by birds or groundhogs. Very little insect damage on the corn sprouts this year. Some years quite a few are killed.

Weather has been nearly ideal, warm and moist. Last week was a bit dry, and a few hills of corn had curled leaves, but this week we got over 3 inches (7+ cm) of rain, so it all looks very happy.

6/13/24:

After 3 inches of rain and 10 days:

Corn on hard clay soil, not liking the dry weather much. It's happier now.

Something a little different. Some years ago I bought some very early sweet corn. It grew and produced lots of tiny, very good-tasting ears. So I saved seed and planted it back every year. It has cross-pollinated with my other corn, but is still tiny, only about 3 feet (one meter) tall. Each stalk will produce several small ears.

A few days ago I saw the first tassels this year. Planted in late April, so roughly 55 days from seed to tassel:

I use the corn for cornbread and pancakes, eat it every day. Selection has been for deeply colored stems, silks, tassels, cobs and seeds, dark red to purple-black, with yellow endosperm. Also selecting for insect resistance and flint corn seeds.

From last year:

Last year's crop (the big yellow ones to the right are the standard local hybrid corn, for comparison).

Seed from last year for this year's garden:

And more seed corn.

Corn tasseling, 56 days after planting:

Corn, beans, squash, tobacco:

All you corn growers out there. I'd love to see pics of your corn, and some details about your methods.

Below in my corn plot in February. Hills are clearly visible.

I am not sure if you mentioned this before, but how many corn plants are there per hill? Do they also tiller a lot?
I only planted sweet corns a few times before. This year I sowed about two dozen seeds. Some tillers so strongly as to look like a traveler's palm. I would've give each plant more space if I knew it.

Our  beans and squash are struggling, but the corn seems to be doing quite well.

All you corn growers out there. I'd love to see pics of your corn, and some details about your methods.  

We tried and had high hopes but the rain stopped and we had already decided it was an experiment with no watering and no bug intervention...so except for the southern peas it's pretty sad looking today.
The corn is hickory king and the squash was from 'going to seed'.
The area had a winter cover crop of austrian peas and wheat.  I scythed it and then we broadforked.
Added rabbit poop and green grass clippings to the hills and wood chips in between.
It was raining a lot until june 8 then it stopped...not a drop since.

May Lotito wrote:I am not sure if you mentioned this before, but how many corn plants are there per hill? Do they also tiller a lot?
I only planted sweet corns a few times before. This year I sowed about two dozen seeds. Some tillers so strongly as to look like a traveler's palm. I would've give each plant more space if I knew it.

Initially 7 seeds per hill. Thinned the weak ones, goal is 3-4 plants per hill. Some hills now have 2 plants, some 5 or 6. From now on only removing damaged plants. Not worried about the thin hills, it adds light and squash etc. produces better.

This variety tillers a lot. The tillers will produce ears, usually about half or a quarter the size of the main ear, but sometimes almost as big. It tillers even when closely planted, but more if thinly planted.

William Bronson wrote: Our  beans and squash are struggling, but the corn seems to be doing quite well.

Looks nice, if a bit dry, leaves curling. Add water, especially when pollinating.

Judith Browning wrote:

All you corn growers out there. I'd love to see pics of your corn, and some details about your methods.  

We tried and had high hopes but the rain stopped and we had already decided it was an experiment with no watering and no bug intervention...so except for the southern peas it's pretty sad looking today.
The corn is hickory king and the squash was from 'going to seed'.
The area had a winter cover crop of austrian peas and wheat.  I scythed it and then we broadforked.
Added rabbit poop and green grass clippings to the hills and wood chips in between.
It was raining a lot until june 8 then it stopped...not a drop since.

Looks wonderful, until that last pic! Hope for rain!

This year has been very good for rain here, regular, and lots of it. Contrast with last year when it was so dry I almost despaired. A few good rains in late June and early July saved everything. As long as pollination hasn't started yet, there is still hope.

Thom Bri wrote:

William Bronson wrote: Our  beans and squash are struggling, but the corn seems to be doing quite well.

Looks nice, if a bit dry, leaves curling. Add water, especially when pollinating.

We didn't have any water on that site until recently and its been hella hot.
I cant be there more than once week anyway.
It needs mulch.
My yarden beds are heavily leaf mulched and have stayed moist throughout the dry time.

Here is another experimental cluster of 16 plants a few weeks younger. Density is 1 plant per sq ft. I also sow bush beans in between at v3 stage.

William Bronson wrote:

Thom Bri wrote:

William Bronson wrote: Our  beans and squash are struggling, but the corn seems to be doing quite well.

Looks nice, if a bit dry, leaves curling. Add water, especially when pollinating.

We didn't have any water on that site until recently and its been hella hot.
I cant be there more than once week anyway.
It needs mulch.
My yarden beds are heavily leaf mulched and have stayed moist throughout the dry time.

Last year was super dry. I started out adding a mound of dirt over the corn bases, just a thin scrape as I weeded, then added a layer of straw or mowed grass. As the season progressed and got dryer and hotter, alternating layers of dirt and straw got added.

It ended up very successful, more than I had expected. That garden has no water except what I carry in buckets from the house 50 yards away, so I couldn't water much. The alternating layers is the trick.

May Lotito wrote:Here is another experimental cluster of 16 plants a few weeks younger. Density is 1 plant per sq ft. I also sow bush beans in between at v3 stage.

Nice! I have done close spacing with good results. Main drawback for me was the difficulty weeding. Currently experimenting with very wide spacing. The hills are on average 5 feet (1.5 meters, roughly) apart. Some closer at about 3 feet, others 6 feet. This seems to work very well for the companion crops. Closer resulted in poor production of shorter plants, squash, tomato, bush beans etc.