The Three Sisters Companion Planting Plan

I started with the intent to grow early potatoes but I now plan to utilize The Three Sisters Companion Planting Plan for most of the other Outdoor Mini Cone Greenhouses I set out this year. Take a look at this, it sure makes a lot of sense to me and you might want to try it yourself this year.

Is this your first gardening adventure?

If you are embarking on your first gardening venture with the Outdoor Mini Cone Greenhouse, you might consider trying this ancient method of ‘companion planting’ gardening, said to have been introduced to the first European settlers of North America by the First Nations Peoples, who had been gardening here, for eons… This method is now often called ‘The Three Sisters’, because of the close companion nature of the plants that are set together, and their helpfulness to each other, in many ways, while they are growing. The plants are: corn [maize], pole beans, and squash or pumpkin. 

Planting Procedure:

   Till a circle 62cm./2 ft. in diameter, in the sunny spot you’ve chosen for your Outdoor Mini Cone Greenhouse, and slightly  ‘hill’ the circle you’ve tilled with some loam, potting soil or some compost. Plant one corn seed in the center, and then, surrounding this, three concentric circles. You will be planting the corn, first. Plant 3-5 seeds of corn, placing one seed in the center, and the remaining few seeds in the ‘inner circle’. When the corn is up [one to two weeks, depending on temperatures], plant five or six pole beans, well-spaced, in the next circle [nearest to the corn], and plant four or five pumpkin or squash seeds in the third circle from the center, making certain that they are inside the cone, and not underneath the cone’s edge. Cover your seeds with soil, water them, and set the lid on the cone. Be certain to remove the lid on warm days, but always cover at night, until danger of frost is past.

Benefits:

   There are many ways that these three plants benefit each other, and all are remarkable, from their ‘give and take’ concerning different soil requirements to possible cooperative protection from pests, but most noticeable is how they grow. The corn provides structure for the ‘pole’ beans, making sticks or poles unnecessary, and the squash or pumpkin provides shade or ‘green mulch’, both making it difficult for weeds to gain a foothold, and also, shading the soil, which helps to retain moisture.

Follow Up:

   When the corn reaches the height of the lid at the top of the cone, carefully remove the Outdoor Mini Cone Greenhouse. It’s ready for use somewhere else in the garden, or will wait for your plans for fall planting.