Post by macmex on Mar 31, 2018 11:57:28 GMT -6
Folks, our next meeting is scheduled for Sunday April 8, at 2:00 PM. Here's the text I sent to the local newspaper. Hope you'all can make it! There are supposed to be two pictures with this. But I can't get our Internet to upload much at all, right now. Will try again, maybe tomorrow.
George
Have you ever heard of “Three Sisters’ Gardening?” This term refers to a common Native American practice of planting corn, beans and squash together. The corn would provide support the for the beans. The beans would help provide some nitrogen for the corn and the squash, and the squash would suppress weeds around the entire planting. In gardening circles it is not uncommon to hear comments along the line of “I tried the three sisters’ method and it didn’t work very well.”
Sometimes the reason it doesn’t work has to do with the selection of varieties. Bean varieties come with varying growth characteristics. Some are “pole varieties,” meaning they need support to climb on. Within this group there are some which only grow a couple feet tall, and some which can top 20’ and tear down almost any kind of corn. Some beans are “bush” varieties, needing no support. There are bush squash, which take up little space, and there are sprawling monsters which can cover 50’ X 50’.
Perhaps the most common problem folk encounter when trying the Three Sisters’ method is with the corn. Almost any corn purchased off the seed rack in a box store will be sweet corn. Sweet corn’s genetics pretty much always guarantees that it will have weak stalks. So if you plant a pole bean on sweet corn, this will usually destroy the corn before it can produce. The key to successful Three Sisters’ Gardening is to use compatible varieties. It is almost always best to purchase an heirloom dent, flint or flour corn with sturdy stalks and select an heirloom bean with “cornfield” in its name. Other beans may well work. It just takes a bit of experimentation to learn their habits. Cowpeas, by the way, often work great as “beans” in this arrangement.
Green Country Seed Savers is a group of gardeners learning and teaching one another about seed saving and successful crops for our conditions. We meet on a monthly basis and share seeds and information in an informal setting. Our next meeting will be on April 8, 2018 at 2:00 PM. We will be meeting at Liberty Grace Chapel, three miles North of Moodys Store on highway 82A. For directions contact Ron Cook (landline 918-207-0116) or George McLaughlin Jr (cell 918-457-8284). You can also drop in at www.seedsavingnetwork.proboards.com and visit with us there!
Attached:
PennyRile_Corn07.jpg - Penny Rile is a wonderful cowpea which grows well on corn.
Mesquakie9-08.JPG – Mesquakie Indian is a wonderful, sturdy dent corn, good for cornmeal, grits and supporting beans.
George
Have you ever heard of “Three Sisters’ Gardening?” This term refers to a common Native American practice of planting corn, beans and squash together. The corn would provide support the for the beans. The beans would help provide some nitrogen for the corn and the squash, and the squash would suppress weeds around the entire planting. In gardening circles it is not uncommon to hear comments along the line of “I tried the three sisters’ method and it didn’t work very well.”
Sometimes the reason it doesn’t work has to do with the selection of varieties. Bean varieties come with varying growth characteristics. Some are “pole varieties,” meaning they need support to climb on. Within this group there are some which only grow a couple feet tall, and some which can top 20’ and tear down almost any kind of corn. Some beans are “bush” varieties, needing no support. There are bush squash, which take up little space, and there are sprawling monsters which can cover 50’ X 50’.
Perhaps the most common problem folk encounter when trying the Three Sisters’ method is with the corn. Almost any corn purchased off the seed rack in a box store will be sweet corn. Sweet corn’s genetics pretty much always guarantees that it will have weak stalks. So if you plant a pole bean on sweet corn, this will usually destroy the corn before it can produce. The key to successful Three Sisters’ Gardening is to use compatible varieties. It is almost always best to purchase an heirloom dent, flint or flour corn with sturdy stalks and select an heirloom bean with “cornfield” in its name. Other beans may well work. It just takes a bit of experimentation to learn their habits. Cowpeas, by the way, often work great as “beans” in this arrangement.
Green Country Seed Savers is a group of gardeners learning and teaching one another about seed saving and successful crops for our conditions. We meet on a monthly basis and share seeds and information in an informal setting. Our next meeting will be on April 8, 2018 at 2:00 PM. We will be meeting at Liberty Grace Chapel, three miles North of Moodys Store on highway 82A. For directions contact Ron Cook (landline 918-207-0116) or George McLaughlin Jr (cell 918-457-8284). You can also drop in at www.seedsavingnetwork.proboards.com and visit with us there!
Attached:
PennyRile_Corn07.jpg - Penny Rile is a wonderful cowpea which grows well on corn.
Mesquakie9-08.JPG – Mesquakie Indian is a wonderful, sturdy dent corn, good for cornmeal, grits and supporting beans.