Three Sisters

**davefromthechipie** · 01-04-2009, 05:59 PM

Originally posted by Mi Jard�n View Post

I've just watched an old gardening program on tv, and they sowed corn with french beans and squash as the "Three Sisters".
Do you think this would still work with corn, runner beans and courgettes?

Hi jardin 3 sisters seems to be a hidden art and as people have said do we even have the climate to do it right in the uk

as for runnerbeans they grow over 8 foot

corns about 5 foot

**walshie** · 01-04-2009, 06:11 PM

Hi Jardin, there is a long thread on this already worth a read

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...urs_28442.html

good luck as i will be growing the three sisters with courgette but with berlotto beans as they can be eaten dried. the reason for dried beans is that the beans are hard to pick with the cougettes growing in between.

**Demeter** · 01-04-2009, 07:58 PM

Courgettes will be hard to pick too - reckon you might end up with marrows

**zazen999** · 01-04-2009, 08:00 PM

That's what I was going to say....winter squashes or pumpkins, shortish shelly beans and it would work much better as they need to be left until just before the first frosts - I know to my cost that things just get lost under all that foliage and the corn isn't tall enough for climbers....they grow faster than the corn does...

**Mi Jard�n** · 01-04-2009, 08:11 PM

Originally posted by davefromthechipie View Post

Hi jardin 3 sisters seems to be a hidden art and as people have said do we even have the climate to do it right in the uk

as for runnerbeans they grow over 8 foot

corns about 5 foot

5 feet? is that all? I thought they grew higher than that! Hmmmmmm....

I do have a pack of pumpkin seeds, maybe I will be using them afterall and I'll put the courgettes elsewhere.
I guess I can pinch the beans out to stop them swamping the corn so it might work.
Thanks for the input grapes!

**zazen999** · 01-04-2009, 08:12 PM

Mi

If you want a courgette in there, pop it on the corner so you can access it.

**Jillyreeves** · 01-04-2009, 08:26 PM

Alternatively, try two sisters and leave out the beans :-0

**Skotch** · 02-04-2009, 09:38 AM

We tried it a couple of years ago and it was a disaster! The beans did eventually crawl up the corn, but the shading that the squashes gave to the ground provided the local slug population with a moist haven under the leaf canopy. Nothing was spared.

As someone else on here has already said, stick to 2 sisters and then, I would say, leave out the squash. I think it only works well in hot climates

Thats my 2d worth

Skotch

**tootles** · 02-04-2009, 10:32 AM

My two sisters are going to be the pumpkins and beans (with their own canes!)

Mind you........
I might give the corn a go just in a small corner (last years corn was a complete disaster - not a single cob to harvest and the plants didn't get over 3 feet high)

**pdblake** · 02-04-2009, 10:45 AM

I tried the three sisters unsuccessfully last year. The beans were brilliant, unfortunately they all but strangled the sweetcorn. It probably had more to do with the cacky weather last year than they method but this year I'm just doing two sisters

I plan to underplant anything taller than a couple of feet with squash or cucumber of some kind, even the beans, but I'm keeping the beans away from anything that they might want to throttle

**King Carrot** · 02-04-2009, 01:23 PM

I do it with two sisters, sweetcorn and winter squash, The beans in theory seem to complicate everything for me, and I'd only put them in too if I was using them for drying and shelling at seasons end.

**Mi Jard�n** · 02-04-2009, 03:14 PM

OK, so the general vote seems to say go for two instead of three.

I think perhaps I will stick with my bamboo canes for my runners, I don't want to risk the crop of any of them especially the yummy beans!
I go with under planting the corn with the squash and put the courgette elsewhere.
Thanks for your insight, mightily appreciated!

**DeanRIowa** · 03-04-2009, 03:17 PM

I did a 2 sister garden last year and planted Squash and popcorn, which worked out very good, I forgot to plant the beans.

I have heard that a three sister garden with Sweet corn doesn't work out very well, because sweet corn is shorter and does not have a very strong stalk. The recommended corn types would be using a Flint, Dent or flour type of corn which in general are taller and have stronger stalks. Not really sure if the popcorn can handle it or not, but I was going to give it a try this year.

If you are going to try a 3 sisters with sweet corn, I wonder if using a half runner bean would help. Just a thought.

Dean

**womble** · 03-04-2009, 05:43 PM

Another vote for squash and sweetcorn only, it works really well. Uses the ground very economically.

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