The Three Sisters, Beans, Corn and Squash!

Native Americans all across the USA planted these three crops for a very good reason. By combining them in there diet they had a base of complete nutrition. It is not just any kind of beans. corn and squash. You need to grow mature dry beans, corn as a grain and winter keeping squash. String beans, sweet corn and summer squash will not do. Neither beans or corn develop protein until fully mature and dry. Summer squash has almost no calories and not that much in the way of vitamins. Both corn and beans contain Amino Acids which are the building blocks our bodies use to assemble protein. We need about 4 or 5 times as much corn in our diet to balance with dry beans.

Corn in early August
Here you can see the top spikes on the corn sta...
Corn Tasseled out
Here is a close up of just the tasseled out top...
Corn Stalks and Silk
This is a close up of the red and green stalks ...

Early European settlers learned about The Three Sisters from the Native Americans. This combination almost certainly helped them to survive too. Today we know more about why this combination works so well. The bottom line is that it still is a very good basic diet, and works just as well today as it has for centuries.

Seasoning Baked Beans
Once a layer of cooked beans is in the Slow Coo...
Sweetening the pot of Beans
I mixed molasses and sugar, and microwaved it s...
Beans ready to 'Bake'
Once the cooked beans are layered with the seas...

Native Americans needed nutritious foods which store well and provide calories protein and vitamins. Agriculture provided a foundation while hunting and fishing complemented their diet. Most people would rather have plenty of meat or fish every day, but we can live well on mostly The Three Sisters. As any hunter or fisherman knows, you can spend all day out there and come home empty handed. The Three Sisters you can grow in your garden. They store well so they are available as you need them.

Cornbread making 6
After nearly three hours in the slow cooker, on...
Cornbread making 7
Here is a hearty meal indeed! A slice of fresh ...
Indian Corn
Our flint corn has been fully dried on the cob ...

Beans and Squash both have to be grown in full sunlight all day long. They must not be shaded by trees or buildings. Corn must be grown in blocks of 4 or more rows for the best pollination. Tall corn and pole beans will also shade the area to the north. To grow a balanced amount of The Three Sisters we only need a single wide row for squash so arrange your garden so that it is along the side toward the south. The runners from the squash will need lots of room so allow at least 6 feet of garden space on both sides of the row of hills of winter squash.The row or hills of corn closest to the squash will have full sun all day long, You can plant pole beans among that one row of corn when it is 4 inches high. The rest of your corn crop should be in at least 3 more adjacent rows to the north side of the first row so it will not shade the beans growing up on that first row of corn.

Butternut Squash
Ripe squash waiting for seed to be collected.
Waltham Butternut Squash
One of our fine Butternut Squash maturing on th...
Light VS Dark
The early morning sun casts sharp shadows on ou...

So which way is south? A simple way to tell is notice where the sun rises and sets on the horizon. Stand in your garden area with your arms out straight to each side. Turn your head to the left and have that arm pointing toward where the sun rises. Now turn your head to the right and have that arm pointing to where the sun sets. Look straight ahead, and that is south.

Waltham Butternut Squash
Here are three Squash I am about to extract the...
'Three Cup' Skillet Cornbread
Three cups of corn ground into meal, and some h...
Waltham Butternut Squash seed!
These I grew last summer, and now in late Febru...

Similar Blog Posts