GroshLink

It looks like crop circles are popping up next to our house, but if all goes well in a few months we'll have corn, beans, and squash, not aliens.

     

It's our first go at a Three Sisters Garden, named for the 3 sisters of corn, beans, and squash. The first step was clearing the weeds from a fallow, but former farm field next to our house. Uncle Jay did that on Monday night. The second step happened on Tuesday when Tom roto-tilled the area. The third step came on Wednesday when I (Theresa) sprayed the area with Round Up. If thistles were a cash crop we could retire now. So hopefully the spraying will save us hours of toil. Even after being tilled there were still some buggers standing their ground (pardon the pun). Step four occurred Thursday (today) when I made 20 mounds of earth, approx. 2 feet in diameter and 2 feet apart. Then I planted 6 corn seeds in a circle in the center of each mound. I way underestimated the number of seeds in a seed packet and in addition to the 2 packets I didn't even open I was able to plant 2 additional rows of corn on the garden perimeter. We'll call these the Big Brothers. I watered my mounds and rows and now we wait for God to work His magic. After the corn seedlings are a few inches tall I'll plant the beans, in a circle outside of the corn. I'll also thin the corn to 1-2 stalks per mound. After the beans sprout I'll plant the squash, you guessed it, in a circle outside of the beans! The plan is for the beans to climb the cornstalk and the squash to spread out and shade the soil around the other plants.

I planted two varieties of corn: Early Sunglow Hybrid which is supposed to be ready to harvest in 63 days, and Silver Queen, ready in 92 days. I had purchased 4 different varieties but didn't have space for any more. So I hope these two work for me. Perhaps after I plant the beans I'll let you know what varieties I planted. I bought 3 or 4 different varieties of pole beans too, but don't know what will actually get planted. The soil looks great, nice and dark and rich. We just have to hope that the critters keep their distance. This garden in adjacent to a swampy wooded area where such critters indeed live. And it's kind of secluded too. The only reason anyone would be in that area is to work in the garden, so it's not too scary for critters to wander there. A very friendly catbird watched me plant my corn tonight.