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Originally posted by woodsmom
reply to post by butcherguy
That's an excellent method! I have tried and failed miserably due to my climate.
For everyone, the 3 sisters method is planting corn to support beans that feeds the corn and squash, the squash shades the ground for the other plants and provides a living mulch.
Originally posted by woodsmom
reply to post by grownshow
Nice, maybe you can help me out!!
My initial failure was the corn, I actually tried the 75 day variety you mentioned, and even in the greenhouse it never achieved the right temps at the right times, and my squash molded, it worked too well.
The next round I tried in a raised bed and planted the traditional mound and planted stout seedlings. The corn still didn't get what it wanted and I didn't see a single ear that year. The squash did ok, but the beans failed too.
Round 3, we had such a crappy wet year that nothing worked.
The aphids moved in wholesale, and I barely had a crop of anything that year.
I thought I would try one more time before we build a giant hoophouse. I still have land to clear for that.
I found a 65 day corn old school northern hybrid sweet corn, my seeds are in the crawlspace I will find the name next time I go down there, that I am hoping will enjoy short, cool and damp summers. I have given up on pole beans entirely, someone farther north of me has better luck with bush beans, so I am going to try some of those. Squash is my kicker, and it may not work until it is in ground under tall enough cover for the corn, because by the time the rainy part of summer is here, the squash want to fruit, so they need a cold frame to finish off, and by then the corn is too tall to cover the trio.
Haha! sorry for the run on thought there!! The joys of gardening, it is like raising kids, they cause you work and heartache, but you can't help but keep trying to get it right, and you only love them more as time goes on!
Originally posted by woodsmom
reply to post by grownshow
Let's see, the corn in the greenhouse I managed to pollinate enough to get a few sweet baby ears off of, it wasn't until I moved them into the gardens that they refused to completely produce, I think one of a dozen stalks managed to produce silk. The beans may well have been a bad batch, they were blue lakes from the grocery store, I think, it's been awhile!
Originally posted by butcherguy
I would suggest non-hybrid, non-GMO seed.
In the US, I would rely on what the Native Americans called the Three Sisters.... Corn, beans and squash. They survived and thrived on those staples Long before we brought other foods to the new world.
Originally posted by new_here
Originally posted by butcherguy
I would suggest non-hybrid, non-GMO seed.
In the US, I would rely on what the Native Americans called the Three Sisters.... Corn, beans and squash. They survived and thrived on those staples Long before we brought other foods to the new world.
Is there any non-gmo corn seed to be had? I've been avoiding eating corn for a while now, because it's one of the first plants they messed with, and if I'm not mistaken, gmo-corn will overtake indigenous corn in a heartbeat.
Originally posted by grownshow
Originally posted by new_here
Originally posted by butcherguy
I would suggest non-hybrid, non-GMO seed.
In the US, I would rely on what the Native Americans called the Three Sisters.... Corn, beans and squash. They survived and thrived on those staples Long before we brought other foods to the new world.
Is there any non-gmo corn seed to be had? I've been avoiding eating corn for a while now, because it's one of the first plants they messed with, and if I'm not mistaken, gmo-corn will overtake indigenous corn in a heartbeat.
Thankfully we still have a significant amount of non gmo corn. There are plenty of non gmo heirloom strains to choose from. Three of the seed companies i routinely order heirloom seeds from are www.rareseeds.com , www.rhshumway.com , and www.territorialseed.com .
The three non gmo corn pages are
www.territorialseed.com...
www.rhshumway.com...
rareseeds.com...
Remember that monsanto gmo corn will generally not be able to reproduce beyond 1 generation and if they do it will be largely inedible. Heirloom seeds can be saved from one year to the next.