How to Grow a Three Sisters Garden

Thousands of years before Europeans found their way to the Americas; native people were living and thriving in the hills and open lands of North America. One group of native people living on the North American continent was the Haudenosaunee or Iroquois. The Haudenosaunee were fishermen, hunters and farmers. The Three Sisters method is a long-standing traditional form of gardening in their communities.

According to Obsidian’s Dictionary of Pantheons’ A Haudenosaunee Pantheon, the three sisters are: bean woman, corn woman and squash woman. Each sister is considered the Patroness and revealer of her respective vegetable and each vegetable is considered one of the three primary staples to humanity.

Women of the village would hill up the soil and plant corn (maize) in the center of the hill. Once the corn came up, probably about two weeks, they would then plant the beans around the corn seedlings followed by the squash seeds at the furthest distance from corn seedlings.

This form of growing these three vegetables worked very well because the three plants complemented each other and made great companions. The corn gave beans a place to climb, the beans provided nitrogen to the corn roots and the large squash leaves provided shade and living mulch which helped to deter weeds and hold moisture in the soil.

At harvest time the Haudenosaunee people offer prayers and thanks to the three sisters calling them ‘Dyonheyko‘; meaning “life’s sustainers” or “they who sustain our lives.”

Growing corn, beans and squash in this manner is easy and takes up much less space than the typical row gardens of today. A small area in the corner of every backyard could supply several meals of these vegetables for a family if grown according to this method.

This is another great gardening project to get the children involved in. Share the history of the three sisters garden as they are learning how to plant and care for vegetables in the backyard. Wait for all danger of frost to pass before planting the seed.

Choice of vegetable seeds are endless but for this garden, it makes sense to use heirloom seeds. There are many sources for heirloom seeds which can be found online. A few choices might be; Oneida hominy or Iroquois White Flour corn, Arikara squash or Small Sugar pumpkin and Baie Verte Indian bean.

How to Plant a Three Sisters Garden:

1. Choose the vegetables to be planted.
2. Use a hoe to create a mound of soil approximately five feet across and one foot high.
3. Amend soil with compost if needed and level off top of hill.
4. Plant 4-6 corn seeds in holes at center of hill 6″ to 8″ apart and 1″ deep.
5. Wait for corn to sprout and reach approximately 6″ high before planting beans. Plant four bean seeds 4″ from base of corn stalks, evenly spaced around stalks.
6. At the outer edge of the mound, plant three squash seeds evenly spaced around perimeter of mound. Squash should not be planted directly on edge of hill rather, set in approximately six to eight inches.

Foot traffic near root systems is decreased in this method of gardening which prevents soil from becoming compacted like it does in row gardening. Compacted soil is less likely to absorb rainwater and nutrients from compost.

The Three Sisters garden can be quite unruly so, do not expect this method of growing vegetables to be neat and tidy.