Three Sisters Year 2

Last year, the Three Sisters garden was quite successful and so warranted trying again - with some changes.

This year, I planted the corn in the potting shed as I've done for years now.  As can be seen from earlier posts in this blog, mice have decided I'd given them a banquet!  I therefore had to plant the seeds directly in the garden and after trying twice in the potting shed, didn't have enough Bodacious corn seeds to fill the beds.  Unable to find any of that seed, I planted a row of Peaches and Cream.  It will be a week later than the Bodacious, but this year I'm planting my rows in diamond pattern so hopefully if they tassel out at different times, there won't be much of a problem with pollination.

Remay protection on cool days and at night

The first seeding of corn is up and about 4" high.  I'm covering it at night with Remay cloth and opening it up during the day.

Remay off on sunny days until the weather is reliably warm.

At the same time that I planted the corn, I set out 3 butternut squash plants.  2 of these are at the south ends of the beds and 1 is in the centre.

Bodacious corn seedling

As I said above, the corn is about 4" high now.  When it reaches 6", I'll plant the Fortex beans and protect them with water bottle collars.

So what am I doing differently?

Last year the beans were so lush and heavy that they broke the corn stalks.  This year, I'm growing Fortex beans in the corn.  It's not as big-leafed as the Italian heritage bean which I'm growing elsewhere.  I planted it at the same time as the corn last year, but this year, I'm giving the corn a head start - which I was supposed to in the first place.

Last year, I grew too many squash plants and the ones at the back of the beds didn't do nearly as well as the ones in sunnier spots.  This year,  I'm only growing 3 plants and all are placed in the sunniest spots.  In addition, I didn't seed corn to the end of the beds at the inside where the 2 beds meet.  Hopefully this will give the squash enough room to grow.

I grew zucchini in the tires at the back of the bed last year.  This year, the zucchini is planted in a concrete bed in front of the Italian heritage beans seeded at the bean rack.  I'll plant impatiens in the tires as they like a bit of shade - and we always need flowers in our lives!