Three Sisters

This year in my garden I decided to try my hand at the “three sisters” way of growing corn, beans and squash.  

When European folks first arrived in North America some vegetable growers discovered that many of the native tribes, including the Iroquois and the Cherokee had been growing this way successfully for over three hundred years. 

The idea is that these three different vegetable plants can grow together and thrive.  The corn, planted first becomes the support for the beans to grow up.  The beans put nitrogen into the soil and attract the beneficial insects, and the squashes shade the roots of the others and keep them cool and moist.  Their flowers also attract pollinators.  

After so much sunshine this year these plants are thriving in my little plot.  Pehaps there are some lessons for us from this wisdom of the elders. Just like the plants we all can thrive together in our diversity when we contribute our own God-given talents to one another.

 

Rita