Three Sisters Thursday

GG your three sisters are looking good!!.....i still find it so amazing how fast beans grow after the bean sprouts....

happy gardening
rose

TURAN....love all the updates and pictures too!!....i love hearing about what everyone is planting....watching it all grow and when the time comes ..harvesting and how they all taste ...i think its awesome that you have seed growing from Noona

your four sisters looks great and sounds cool too!!.....love the view in your picture...looks so peaceful :drunken:

hugs
rose

Photos of my Three Sisters Gardening consisting of:
Bantam Corn, Kentucky Wonder Pole Beans and Butternut Squash along the trellis.
Pumpkins are planted in two corners.

It appears I have 5 sisters now.  There are tomatillos growing under the corn.  They must of passed through the compost pile
One tomatillo with the squash is blooming and rivaling the pampered tomatillos that I planted

I have Kentucky wonder beans growing up the 4 sunflowers in the middle of my watermelon/cantaloupe bed.

Does that count?

Kay

Turan wrote:It appears I have 5 sisters now.  There are tomatillos growing under the corn.  They must of passed through the compost pile
One tomatillo with the squash is blooming and rivaling the pampered tomatillos that I planted

I have 5 sisters as well.  Found at least 4 volunteer tomato plants and an unnumbered amount of volunteer cilantro!  Makes up for the fact that I think I am going to lose the acorn squash.

GG

This is not SFG, so don't yell at me, but wanted to share my attempt at 3 sisters in my barrels.  Used them for potatoes last year and needed something different this year so thought we'd try the minimum for corn (five in a dice pattern) and see if we get good pollination.  

Strawberry popcorn in all three barrels.  Toddler son destroyed half the middle barrel (lost a couple of corn plants and the spaghetti squash) and the whole barrel on the right and it was re-planted with corn (that's why so much smaller) and a sugar baby watermelon.  I think I'll pick up a zucchini squash start to put in the middle barrel since those are still found everywhere and I keep seeing all these great recipes posted.  

I haven't yet put any beans in; am a little nervous they will outgrow the corn so have been putting it off.  Since strawberry popcorn only gets 4' tall, was going to put a few bush beans in.  Think they'll even fit?  Does it really work for everything to be that crowded?  It's my first time growing a squash and I am awed and amazed at the magnificence of that giant plant.  So fun! Spotted first female flower today.

GWEN...some how I missed your update.....how is your barrel three sisters going?...we planted ours in barrels last year too  
 

Our SFG three sisters garden  is producing!


Beans and our first *Hooker* sweet Indian corn today  the ears are smaller then a normal sweet corn....but still a good size.....plump kernels...that seem bigger then reg sweet corn..... and oh so pretty!....we tasted them raw and they are very sweet!...will let you know how they taste warm with butter.... Im sure its going to be good!...corn we will for sure grow again next year!





more crook neck squash



second zucchini



happy gardening
rose

Rose,
Your garden looks great - especially your corn!

I planted a three sisters garden but.....
 I was away for about 3 weeks and the pole beans were rampant and wild...lol
 The corn was growing fine.
 The pumpkin vines (2).
Update:
  Pole Beans - I had to really trim back as much as possible and untangle the pole beans up the trellis and other strings and poles...but the good news it is producing buckets of beans...yummy.
  Pumpkins - lost one vine but good news - I have two pumpkins growing!
  Corn - it seems to be slow growing and waiting for the cobs to fill up.
 I assume it is because of the pole beans taking over...what do you think??   

Next year, I will either switch to bush beans or no beans.

Rose, how was the Hooker corn warm with butter?  


I picked our first ear of Painted Mountain flour corn and a few beans. They are all going into the bean stew along with some tomatillos.


I want to try this recipe but with my beans and corn and tomatillos http://thewimpyvegetarian.com/2012/07/black-bean-tomatillo-and-corn-soup/

your corn is so pretty Turan  

our *hooker* Indian sweet corn was FANTASTIC   warm with butter

the kernels are much more plump then other sweet corn I have ever eaten....it truly was wonderful  and we will for sure grow it again next year!

we are still getting beans, squash and zuk's  

happy gardening
rose

Wow, that red corn looks fantastic, Turan! "Flour" corn ... guess that means it's not really sweet and is meant to be ground into corn flour?

Yep.

This corn is a mixture of all the various native corns to this area. The ears are all colors, blue yellow red and mixtures. You can eat these at the 'green' (half mature stage like when you pick sweet corn) and they are quite tasty and a bit sweet but nothing like a sweet corn is.

If you are interested in genetics this corn is genetically very diverse on purpose. You can read about it here The Painted Mountain story

Turan, Thanks for posting the link. Within the link is another link, "Buffalo Bird Woman's Garden." Fascinating reading. I bookmarked it so I could finish it later.

Sanderson, O, I am glad there is a link for Buffalo Bird Woman's Garden. I found that very interesting reading this spring before I started my garden. My 3 sisters garden has bean and corn that she would recognize. Next year I plan to try out a squash that she would of known now called Lakota squash.

Do we know much about the California Natives corn growing practices?

Turan, No native corn in California! The tribes were gatherers, hunters and fishermen. Actually, life was fairly easy here because acorn trees, game and fish were almost everywhere.

Properly prepared acorn was pounded into meal. The pounding bowl areas that I have seen in the mountains were on large flat rocks where several women could pound as a group. Probably gossiping about their men! This meal was a staple along with roots / bulbs, greens and berries, and wild game and fish. Trade routes were well established. I found this Junior Ranger government doc that explains life here before the Europeans.

http://www.parks.ca.gov/pages/735/files/04jrhandbk-californiaindians.pdf

My Three Sisters box turned into an only child.  Squash died, corn had low pollination, but I did get some lovely beans!

GG

Ive been a SFG fan since first seeing Mels PBS program, what, 15-20 years ago??   

After several moves and some time off Ive revived the garden this year. And, for the first time, I'm trying the Threes Sisters. After all these years and a very long time of KNOWING about the technique, Im now trying it out.

I planted a small hill yesteday with some common varieties:

Sweet Bantam corn
Yellow Wax beans
Small Sugar pumpkins

Not at all authentic, according to accounts of Native American plants. I even screwed up and put in BUSH beans instead of pole or runner beans. But, hey - its still a good shot.

Welcome Dayhut.  Since you have been a proponent of SFG for such a long time, I have to ask if you are aware of the latest and greatest method.  Not at all like Mel's original gardens.  His latest book is ALL NEW SQUARE FOOT GARDENING, 2ND ED. 

Kay

Thanks

walshevak wrote:Welcome Dayhut.  Since you have been a proponent of SFG for such a long time, I have to ask if you are aware of the latest and greatest method.  Not at all like Mel's original gardens.  His latest book is ALL NEW SQUARE FOOT GARDENING, 2ND ED. 

Kay

Thanks Kay

Yes I've got a copy of his second book.
Now, you being an SFG instructor and all, you might not appreciate me being a fan - but not a slav, to the concept.
I follow the general outline, spacing, soil amendment notions and so on, that 'Ol Mel has espoused all along. But I'll plant a row if it suits, or dispense with the hard "borders and beds" practice, as I have this time around.
Regardless, I keep the idea of efficiency, water conservation, soil BUILDING and planting guidelines of SFG. I haven't forgotten those good things.

Just heard about the "Three Sisters" planting.  Interesting.  I would like to try.  Maybe next year.

giant_trainer wrote:Just heard about the "Three Sisters" planting.  Interesting.  I would like to try.  Maybe next year.

Kathy,
If you have or can obtain the seed, you can still try it. All three of "the Sisters," corn, beans, squash, are heat  lovers. There is no ironclad rule that says they cannot be started now.
Depending on the varieties chosen, you need about 90 days, total, to bring all to harvest. Yout have that and more still in the gardening season of TN. In fact, both corn and storage-type squashes are traditionally finished off at or around the first onset of frost. It's possible the beans may resist setting fruit in summers heat, but in my experience, that's not a problem.
So, I say, " Go for it!"  

dayhut wrote:

giant_trainer wrote:Just heard about the "Three Sisters" planting.  Interesting.  I would like to try.  Maybe next year.

Kathy,
If you have or can obtain the seed, you can still try it. All three of "the Sisters," corn, beans, squash, are heat  lovers. There is no ironclad rule that says they cannot be started now.
Depending on the varieties chosen, you need about 90 days, total, to bring all to harvest. Yout have that and more still in the gardening season of TN. In fact, both corn and storage-type squashes are traditionally finished off at or around the first onset of frost. It's possible the beans may resist setting fruit in summers heat, but in my experience, that's not a problem.
So, I say, " Go for it!"  

+1

Kay

Dayhut and Kay....

I think I will.  I'll be looking for the seed tomorrow!

Thanks!