Three sisters' bed
Posted: Thursday 9 August, 2007
The three sisters' bed is growing well. The runner beans are cropping well, much to Dan's Mum's delight. The sweetcorn is growing but I think some of it may be too shaded by the beans to ripen, even if cobs form. The marrow, courgette, squash and pumpkin are all growing, but I think it's almost impossible to fail with these plants.
It also seems to be Cassius's preferred spot for hiding rabbit remains. Both dogs were going mad to get in there today - Meg was nearly strangled by the beans - then Tess appreared with a scraggy bit of rabbit skin (Cass doesn't leave much) and shot off down the field with Meg in hot pursuit.
However, apart from hiding grisly remains, it does look very nice, too.
Comments
Rosemary
Hi, John
Hmm, not great. I don't think we picked quite the right spot - not enough sun for the corn and the squashes rotted. We're in the middle of putting up a polytunnel so we might try it in there. Corn is hit and miss here - miss this year, along with lots of other things :-(
Kind regards,
Rosemary
John
Thanks Rosemary
All three crops grow well here so hopefully things will go a bit better.
I think one of the important things other than position is the timing of sow each type of seed.
I will give it a go and see what I can do. :)
Cheers
John
Aline
Hi Rosemary,
I started reading your diary yesterday then decided to start from the first entry and work my way to the present - that way I'll be more in tune with the learning process.
Anyway, I got to this section regarding your first three sisters experiment not going as well as you'd hoped.
I'm sure that you've worked it out for yourself by now (yet to get to that bit). However, I recently bought a second hand copy of Carla Emery's Country Living Encyclopedia and she sets out how she does it which make sense to me. She says let the corn grow to about 6 inches before you put in the beans. That way the beans don't need canes and the corn will have a head start over the beans so it's not overshadowed.
Don't know if that's of any use, but thought it worth passing on.
Cheers, Aline
Comments are now closed for this post.
John
Monday 27 August, 2012 at 10:55am
How did this three sisters planting go at the end. I am planning on giving this a go and am interested to know how you planting went.
Cheers
John