June 15, 2007

Martin and Alison, two of our work-trade staff, describe their thoughts and experience with planting the three sisters - a traditional guild of corn, beans and squash practiced by many Native cultures and adopted by many Permaculturists!

MARTIN:  My experience planting the 3 sisters was very fulfilling.  Being part of this ancient tradition made me think how much more meaningful our actions are if we include a bit of
ceremony.  I also realized that if we follow what native people practiced in their land, we feel connected to them.  It shows respect and admiration.  They practiced by intuition a few principles of Permaculture, which now we have to learn as we’ve lost acting by instinct.  It was a great experience and they’re doing now very well, growing fast and healthy!!

ALISON: I greatly enjoyed the pattern and process of planting this traditional combination of beans, corn, and squash that make up the Three Sisters. We began by forming small mounds of earth and compost across the entire garden bed.  It was hard work breaking up the clods of clay-rich earth and mixing in compost to make the mounds, but when we were finished we had a charming miniature mountain landscape to feast our eyes upon.  We then planted in each mound, beginning with four kernels of Chiapas Resistance Corn on the top of the mound, each one oriented so that they faced one of the four cardinal directions.  Next, we planted a circle of 8 Anasazi beans around the corn kernels, aligning the beans with the cardinal directions as well.  Finally, we pressed squash seeds into nutrient rich balls of compost and buried 4 of these seed balls into the sides of the mound, also oriented with the cardinal directions.  

I found it very meditative to plant this beautiful pattern into each mound.  Each time I started a new mound and found the North to orient my seeds, I was reminded of our connection as humans to the earth and to the food we are privileged to grow from it.  I especially liked imagining Native Americans, many generations before me, planting in this same pattern and performing this same process of cultivating food from the earth.  Lastly, I enjoyed imagining the cooperation of growth that will soon sprout from this mound.  The squash will act as a living mulch by growing to cover the mound, as the corn grows up to create supports on which the beans will climb, and the beans will in turn fix the nitrogen in the soil for the corn and squash to thrive.  Thinking of the way in which each plant in the mound will assist the other, much like a community or family, makes me realize how appropriate the name Three Sisters is for this traditional planting combination.