By Chris West, ASC intern
We all are familiar with the fact that the Native Americans were excellent hunter-gatherers, probably from our middle school textbooks. But, most of us were not informed of their laissez-faire system of symbiotic agricultural. What am I babbling about you say? I am speaking of the The Three Sisters, one of the farming techniques the Native Americans practiced.
Native Americans had their own distinct tribes, each with their own horticultural traditions. The Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) coined the term The Three Sistersalthough they weren't the only tribe to use the method. This style of planting utilizes three different crops to their full potential in one space. A circle of interdependence based on giving and receiving.
The Three Sisters is a combination of three plants working together:
Sister Bean fixes, or makes available in plant form, nitrogen from the air.
Sister Corn provides the support for Sister Bean’s trailing vine.
Sister Squash provides ground cover to hold moisture and maintain healthy soil environment as well as deterring animal invaders with its spiny stems.
The fourth sister can be Sister Sunflower or Sister Bee Balm (aka Bergamot, Horsemint and Oswego Tea). This sister supports the beans, lures birds from the corn with her seeds and attracts insect pollinators.
Being the over-enthusiastic gardener/farmer that I am (especially in the Spring), I insisted on trying to recreate The Three Sisters (plus one). There are different arrangements into which these plants can be put, but for my first go round I used the Wampanoag method, where the sisters are grown in blocks, more typical of today’s linear agriculture.
There are guides for growing The Three Sisters, but I can add the following pointers. First, plant seeds on level soil in full sun. Plant Sister Corn, Sister Sunflower and Sister Squash all at the same time. Sister Bean should be planted between 2-3 weeks after Sister Corn has established a proper support stalk. When Sister Bean is being planted or slightly later, ‘hill up’ the soil around Sister Corn and Sister Sunflower, this will add more strength to their root systems and allow them to stand strong during high winds.
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