I know that we’re in the middle of fall, coming up on winter, the morning fogs make you feel like you’re a’wanderin’ the moors of Scotland and the damp seeps into your very bones. But what can it hurt to think ahead? I even thought (yeah, it does happen from time to time) that a gardener could make the mounds for the Three Sisters using the lasagna gardening technique over the winter so that they’d be ready when time came to plant in the late spring. If you’re going to try this, space your mounds three to four feet apart. They don’t have to be round, either; you could make them square. I’m thinking of doing mine the size of a sheet of newspaper, since I’ll be using that as some of the layers.
The Three Sisters are the three main agricultural crops of some Native American groups in North America: squash, maize, and climbing beans. 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 one foot high and 2 feet wide, and several maize seeds are planted close together in the center of each mound. In parts of the Atlantic Northeast, rotten fish are buried in the mound with the maize seeds, to act as additional fertilizer where the soil is poor. When the maize is about six inches tall, beans and squash are planted around the maize.
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, monopolizing the sunlight to prevent weeds. The squash leaves act as a "living mulch," creating a microclimate to retain moisture, and the prickly hairs of the vine deter pests.
So, this is how to do this…
In May or June, when the soil has warmed, either make your mounds or have your lasagna mounds ready, and plant eight to ten corn kernels in the center top of your mound. Water them well and tamp the soil down firmly so that they don’t wash away the next time it rains.
Since all corn grows on good, strong stalks, the variety you choose is entirely your choice, based on what you want from your corn. I like those super sweet bi-color varieties, but I’ve heard that the extra-long eared white Silver Princess is very flavorful as well.
About two weeks later, when your corn reaches about six inches high, plant your bean seeds – 8 to 12 of them - around the flat top of your mound. Push the seeds deep into the soil. Obviously, if we’re wanting those beans to use the corn stalks for support, we’d better be planting pole beans! The Park Company has a couple of varieties that I like; Smeraldo is a flat-pod pole bean that tastes great and is lovely in minestrone. Pods can grow up to 10 inches long on 4 to 6 foot vines. The other one is a super early variety called Kwintus that is stringless. Of course, there is the classic Blue Lake that is stringless and even available in organic seed form.
One week or so after you plant the beans, you’ll be planting your squash. Plant these on flat ground. You can go all the way around the mound or just in the direction where you have the most room. Six to eight seeds in a ring around the base of the mound is usually plenty. The traditional squash to plant is pumpkin, but you should go with what you like – patty pan, crookneck or zucchini are all great.
When everything begins growing, you should thin your corn plants down to the five strongest, with no more than two bean plants per stalk. You’ll need to help the beans get started growing up the stalks with some gentle guidance. The squash is going to do what squash does which is to take up every available bit of space…no, wait, let me rephrase that…The squash can be thinned down to what you expect to consume, donate to the hungry and simply give away and how much walking space you need in your garden.
Three sisters is fun, it looks cool and it’s a great way to try out lasagna gardening to see it that technique is for you.
The long and short of squill – This delicate in appearance plant is actually one of the hardiest bulbs around, self-seeding and naturalizing in vast colonies if left undisturbed over time. It doesn’t get any taller than about 6 inches, but the gorgeous blue color of the blooms packs a quite a bit of impact if planted in large numbers. Squill has the added bonus of being repellant to moles and other burrowing vermin, er, critters. They’re super easy to grow, come in white and double flowering varieties, in addition to the blue and I hear the deer won’t touch ‘em. Plant them three inches deep and four inches apart in well-drained soil in the fall (right now!) and plant them everywhere.
Giant white squill is a winter growing plant. Leave first appear in November as a green spike. In December, the spike starts to open with many leaves. By mid-spring, the plant – grown from a bulb the size of a child’s head in most cases – will stand around three feet tall and three feet high. When the temperatures start to rise, the foliage starts to fade. Once the leaves are dry, remove them so they don’t interfere with the blooming process. Don’t cut them off either though because the bulb needs them. Leave the bulb as dry as possible for about a month in either June or July.
Shallow irrigation during the summer will encourage and enhance the flowering process. One bulb produces one flower, but WHAT A FLOWER! Flowering occurs in August or September and will appear from the bulb about the size of your little finger. From there, this flower stalk is going to grow to around FIVE FEET in less than a month. The hotter it is, the faster it grows. These stalks can grow two to three inches a day. When the stalk reaches about 80% of its height, florets will start to open from the bottom. If you’re going to cut the stalk and bring it in the house, this is the time to do it. You’ll need a taller, heavy vase for this. Each day, another two to three inches of florets will open, ending up with a mass of tiny white flowers over a ten day period. Staggering the water in the summer can extend the flowering period between bulbs.
After you cut the stalk, it will continue to grow six to eight inches after it is cut. As a response to it’s own weight, it will twist and turn and present a truly unique cut flower centerpiece for your holiday parties.
For information on where to find giant squill OR if you have a suggestion for something you’d like to read about, send an email to thegardengrrl@gmail.com.
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