Three Sisters

Pictures posted in reverse order, but too tired to switch everything around. Try reading from bottom to top.

But three didn't look like enough so I put 5 mounds in.

See all the colors: red, blue, yellow and black.

I planted festivity corn heirloom seed from Bountiful Gardens. Should be very pretty.

The sites I read listed anywhere from 1 to 4 corn plants in the center of each mound. I must be an overachiever because I made 5 holes for planting and put 4 kernels down each hole. "One for the rook and one for the crow. One to die and one to grow." My germination rate has not been that great this year and I can always thin them later.

Started with 5 gallon buckets of dirt to create mound. The bed I wanted to plant this way is only 4'x6' so I started with 3 mounds.

Ever since I heard the children's song "Three Sister's in a Mound" I've been a little fascinated with this concept. The idea is that farmers in the western US in days long ago planted three species in close proximity for the symbiotic and healthy relationship they give each other. Corn, beans and squash are the 3 sisters. They each occupy a different layer of sunshine and root zones.

"Squash grows on the bottom. Beans grow all around. Corn grows up high. Three sisters in a mound."

Not sure why the mound shape is needed for the dirt but I thought I'd go with it. The corn gets planted first, in the center, so it has time to grow high. Two weeks later the beans go in, planted in a ring 6" or so outside the corn. The beans (pole beans) will use the growing corn as a trellis. The beans also fertilize the soil for the corn with their bacteria-laden nitrifying nodules. The squash, which goes in a ring further outside the bean ring, gets planted at the same time or one to two weeks later depending on which website you read. I suppose fast growing squash, like zucchini, should go in later so the other two plants have a chance to grow higher. The squash shades the soil, acts as a living mulch, and expands around the other two plants. Not sure how it helps the soil.