SUMMER TIME

Summer time is an abundant ,lush time in the garden. After a very slow start things are finally getting going.

The Three Sisters bed is doing well, this is based on the American Indian peoples growing practice of growing together their staple vegetables. They tell a story about each plant as Sisters working together to help each other.

First is Sister Corn she is tall, slender with golden hair, as the eldest she is strong for the younger ones and especially her second sister who spends her days dreaming about growing to the sun. Her sister is her strongest supporter as second sister needs someone upright to cling on to. Their youngest sister is larger than the others and very down to Earth. She loves to lay , stretching out on the warm Earth

These three sisters are Corn, Bean and Squash.

Corn as the first sister provides the stem for bean to grow up, whilst squash’s growing habit provides dense ground cover to protect the roots of all.

Three sisters are a perfect example of relationships and companions in Ancient planting systems.

The original American people valued their relationship with these 3 plants especially. During the forced relocation of the Cherokee and other nations on the Trail of Tears people carried these precious seeds with them. We have grown the Cherokee trail of tears beans for many years this is a poignant testament to the importance of being able to grow your own food and the value of varieties that have been handed down over many generations.

In this version of our Three Sisters planting we sowed Scarlett Emperor beans, Painted mountain Corn and Burgess Buttercup Squash, a couple of Zinnias crept into the bed adding splashes of colour too!

Here is our version. In our climate we don’t plant each of the three sisters in the same hole as they would have originally, as our climate is different. We plant the corn first in a mound and the beans here are around a tepee as corn is too slow growing to support bean. Squash is placed last once corn is established, the foliage protects corns shallow roots from drying out. Its definitely a good year for Squash. It has overtaken the Polytunnel!

we are harvesting daily now, cucumbers, peppers, herbs, beans and leaves lots of delicious, colourful leaves !