Three Sisters (agriculture)
In one technique known as companion planting, the three crops are planted close together. Flat-topped mounds of soil are built for each cluster of crops. Each mound is about 30 cm (12 in) high and 50 cm (20 in) wide, and several maize seeds are planted close together in the center of each mound. In parts of the Atlantic Northeast, rotten fish or eels are buried in the mound with the maize seeds, to act as additional fertilizer where the soil is poor. When the maize is 15 cm (6 inches) tall, beans and squash are planted around the maize, alternating between the two kinds of seeds. The process to develop this agricultural knowledge took place over 5,000–6,500 years. Squash was domesticated first, with maize second and then beans being domesticated. Squash was first domesticated 8,000–10,000 years ago.
The three crops benefit from each other. The maize provides a structure for the beans to climb, eliminating the need for poles. The beans provide the nitrogen to the soil that the other plants utilize, and the squash spreads along the ground, blocking the sunlight, helping prevent establishment of weeds. The squash leaves also act as a "living mulch", creating a microclimate to retain moisture in the soil, and the prickly hairs of the vine deter pests. Maize lacks the amino acids lysine and tryptophan, which the human body needs to make proteins and niacin, but beans contain both and therefore maize and beans together provide a balanced diet.
Native Americans throughout North America are known for growing variations of Three Sisters gardens. The milpas of Mesoamerica are farms or gardens that employ companion planting on a larger scale. The Anasazi are known for adopting this garden design in a drier environment. The Tewa and other Southwestern United States tribes often included a "fourth sister" known as "Rocky Mountain bee plant" (Cleome serrulata), which attracts bees to help pollinate the beans and squash.
Yellow crookneck squash, fruit on plant
- Agriculture in the prehistoric Southwest
- Companion planting
- Eastern Agricultural Complex
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- Vivian, John (February–March 2001). "The Three Sisters". Mother Earth News. Retrieved September 18, 2013.
- Landon, Amanda J. (2008). "The "How" of the Three Sisters: The Origins of Agriculture in Mesoamerica and the Human Niche". Nebraska Anthropologist (Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska-Lincoln): 110–124.
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- "Cucurbitaceae--Fruits for Peons, Pilgrims, and Pharaohs". University of California at Los Angeles. Retrieved September 2, 2013.
- Wilson, Gilbert (1917). Agriculture of the Hidatsa Indians: An Indian Interpretation. Gloucestershire: Dodo Press. p. 25. ISBN 978-1409942337.
- Mann, Charles (2005). 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus. New York: Vintage Books. pp. 220–221. ISBN 978-1-4000-3205-1.
- Hemenway, Toby (2000). Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing. p. 149. ISBN 1-890132-52-7.
- "2009 Native American $1 Coin". United States Mint. Retrieved September 18, 2013.
- Companion Planting-Three Sisters, Old Farmer's Almanac
- Virtual Museum of Canada, The St. Lawrence Iroquoians — virtual exhibit that includes information on Iroquoian agriculture and the Three Sisters