garden started!

[TasunkaWitko]

up here, the growing season generally starts may 15th. you'll probably get away with doing it a few days earlier, but may 15th is definitely safe. obviously, the growing season is brutally short, since winter comes early in montana, so when this magical date comes along, you want to get things going. as today was the 16th, i got started a day late, but that's ok.

our garden space is rectangular, with rows running the "short" way. after actually measuring for the first time in 4 years, i discovered the rows are 18 feet long (i had always estimated 20), with maybe a half a foot of leeway at each end. going the "long" way, i haven't measured it yet, but i am guessing about 30 to 32 feet of useable space. this obviously isn't a huge garden, but it is about right for what we would use, plus the level of time/effot we are able to put into it.

we tilled the garden on sunday and discovered a bonus. evidently, we missed a bunch of onions last year, so we had a bunch of them coming up right away, about 2.5 rows. i'll plant some in the missing spots in the rows, for a total of three rows (18 feet long). the "surprise onion patch" starts just about 2/3 of the way into the garden, which leaves an area of about 10 to12 feet on one side and 18 feet on the other. the 10- to 12-foot plot is where i will plant my tomatoes, peppers (good luck with those!) and two or three other things. more on that, hopefully tomorrow.

for today, it was the 18-foot section i was concerned with; along with the 18 feet that comprise the rows, this longer section left me with a perfect square (18 feet x 18 feet) for trying my three sisters project.

as an historian with a lot of background in native american studies, i'd always vaguely known about this method of planting, i just never knew that it had a name, and never knew the specifics. also, my "area of concentration" has always been with the plains tribes, who did no planting. brook gave an outstanding run-down of the method here:

foodsoftheworld.activeboards.net/forum_posts.asp?TID=2172&title=introducing-the-three-sacred-sisters

i encourage anyone who is interested yet not familiar with the method to read the link above. the three sisters method is not only an interesting way to garden in a historical way, it's also an efficient and high-yield method for growing a diverse crop of really good and nutritious food. the link above goes into deeper detail, but basically it is a three-stage method starting with corn, then with bean stalks running up the corn, and finally squash or melon-type plants interspersed between the rows of corn and beans. the corn provides a "pole" for the bean vines to grow up on, the beans provide nitrogen in the soil for the corn, and the large, broad leaves of the creeping melon/squash vines provide shade and mulch, deterring growth of weeds between the corn stalks.

after looking over the two models (algonquian and missourian) i decided to go with something that was close to the algonquian. due to the space i had, it was necessary to slightly modify the directions that brook provided. he advised planting rows (and corn stalks within the rows) four feet apart, but considering the 18x18 foot space, i decided compress the concept just a little bit, planting the corn three feet apart in six rows, each three feet apart, for a 6x6 grid of 36 corn plants, each one three feet apart from the other. it looks great, but i hope the three feet (versus the advised four-foot) spacing won't come back to haunt me later.

it was a good time; my youngest son helped me measure everything out, making little round hills about a foot-and-a-half wide with "moats" around each mound to help define the points on the grid and also to hold water. our choice of seed was extremely limited due to our very small-town selection, so i decided to shoot the moon and gave him three dollars this morning, telling him to go to the hardware store after school and pick out two packets of whatever variety of corn seed he wanted. his selection was pretty cool: a colourful, white-and-yellow sweet variety called "peaches and cream;" here's a picture:



not exactly historically accurate, but i can get more into it next year if this works out ~

the 6x6 layout of the corn planting leaves an internal 5x5 grid of empty spaces for planting the creeping, viney-type plants. i decided to go with cucumbers along the chain-link fence, then a row each of winter squash, some kind of melons (or combination thereof, such as honeydew and cantaloupe), zucchini and pumpkins. but i am getting ahead of myself here....

brook's schedule calls for waiting two weeks, the planting the beans alongside the corn (so they can run up the corn stalks). then, two weeks later, the creeping vine-type plants are planted.

so, for now, i gave my plot a light spray of water as the sun went down, and will continue to do so every evening or every other evening, as needed. it's scheduled to rain the next two, possibly three days, but i have little faith in weather forecasts around here, so it's best to be prepared.

in two weeks, the beans! they have a bit of a story attached to them, but i'll keep a lid on that, for now ~ it's a surprise!

i'm looking forward to this project, and i'd like to offer my heartfelt thanks to brook for his assistance. if anyone has any comments or advice, i'm all ears ~

[Jan V]

Good luck with your Three Sisters garden. It sounds like you've got a good foundation going. Please keep us updated. I've tried it once before, but it was a huge disappointment, due to my neglect in thinning the seedling beans. I let too many grow up the corn stalks, and it was like a jungle in there. But I do plan to give it another try in the future. Maybe your success will motivate me!

[TasunkaWitko]

hi, jan, and thanks for the encouragement ~

here's some update since the last entry:

21may2012 - one thing i found is that a "real" garden (plots, rows, planting, watering, weeding etc.) is a lot of work. i'm hoping to be able to commit to it this year, and have taken some steps to help that along, including spacing my rows and a lot of my planting so that i can run a tiller through them to help with weeding - also so that the plants grow and hopefully produce better. this 3 sisters method looks like a good plan for busy people, since it appears that the plants themselves help do a lot of work - supporting the beans, mulching the ground, preventing weeds and feeding the soil etc. i'm really looking forward to this.

on saturday, we planted 8 tomato plants of various varieties (including cherry, cour d'beouf, cherokee purple and others) and 2 varieties of peppers (i think jalapeno and hungarian wax, but will have to wait for them to grow before i am sure). these 10 plants were placed on the "other" side of the garden from the 3 sisters patch, in two rows 3 feet apart. each plant was spaced 3 feet from the other and we put those old-style, round "tomato cages" over them to help define the spot where they were planted, and also so that as they grow we can tend to them. we also planted three "hills" in the same area - one with zucchini, one with "sugar baby" watermelons and one with cantaloupe. i defined and protected these hills using coffee cans that had the bottoms cut out of them.

hopefully this evening, i will plant a row of 5 or 6 cucumber plants along one side of the outer perimeter of the 3 sisters patch, where they will be able to run up our chain-link fence. i also plan to see about a few other odds and ends here and there - we have room for maybe 2 more rows of stuff. possible choices might be carrots, beets, eggplant and potatoes. i also bought some onion sets in order to fill in the three "bonus rows" of onions that came up unexpectedly this spring. everything will hopefully be in place by the end of the week.

future plans for the 3 sisters patch are to plant the beans in a little over a week, then plant the squashes and pumpkins. i'll list the varieties when i get home.

(later)

ok, it looks like i got:
1.sugar pie pumpkin
2.acorn squash
3.spaghetti squash
4.cushaw green striped squash
5.buttercup squash
i'll be planting 5 of each of these....


22may2012 - the beautiful mrs. tas asked for cucumbers, so last night we gave her cucumbers. i planted 7 spots with 4 seeds each along one edge of the three sisters plot, where a chain-link fence runs on the outside edge of the garden. the plan is to use the fence as a trellis as the cucumbers grow. the plantings are spaced about 3 feet apart and should do pretty well.

all that's left is to fill in the "bonus onion" rows, and to plant 3 or 4 things on the opposite end of the garden, where i have the tomatoes etc.

25may2012 - the night before last, i planted a couple of spots with two different kinds of chile seeds - i don't have much hope for them, because i have very little luck with chiles but we'll see how it goes. the first was planted with tabasco seeds - yep, the same chiles as is used for tabaso sauce. the second one was a spanish variety - i BELIEVE they are spanish (possibly italian) and called sheepnose chiles - they are fairly roundish, look to be of small-to medium size and are red and slightly wrinkly-looking; perhaps some kind of cherry pepper - perhaps calabrese or peperoncino? what i remember of the label says peperone piccante a cuore.....

[TasunkaWitko]

alright - after a late-may cold snap and snowstorm, i'm a week behind schedule, but it's probably jsut as well. ~ as of yesterday, here's what i added to what's above.

over on the "other side" of the garden, where i planted my tomatoes, i planted two eggplants that were already started, along with a couple more tomato plants ("green zebra" and "yellow pear"). i've treid eggplant in the past, with absolutely no luck, so i'll be babying these a little and hopefully getting some results. they are in a spot where they will get good morning and evening sunshine, but will be somewhat protected during the hottest part of the day. i also planted two rows of spanish yellow onion sets (around 70 onions altogether, maybe) next to the three sisters patch, and where the patch herself is concerned, i planted the beans.

these beans are pretty special - they are cherokee cornfield beans that were sent to me by brook (historicfoodie), and i am quite grateful to him for sharing them. these pole beans can be traced back to the cherokee in tennessee, and their special characteristic is that they produce as many as 20 different colors and patterns - sort of like growing a 15-bean mix. they are perfect for interplanting with corn, and i had just enough to plant two per corn planting (6x6 grid of 36 corn plantings, 72 beans planted altogether).

the bean planting is a week late, but pretty much in line for planting here in north-central montana. in two weeks, i'll plant the wintere squashes and pumpkins mentioned above. i would like to have gotten a head start on them, but i didn't have any peat pots or other starting stuff on hand. i might check with my dad tonight and see if he has any....

along with this, i planted two rows of random things that my youngest son started in school before it let out for the summer. he isn't much of a record keeper, but it looks like we've got some carrots, corn, squash/gourd, maybe cucumbers, lettuce, onions and perhaps a pumpkin or watermelon. also possibly some flowers and a bean plant. all of these plants had a good start, but they were planted in a shoebox full of dirt, so it will be interesting to see what comes up. he had enough stuff for two rows, with a little room at the end of one row where i will try some more cucumbers, since i have my doubts about the ones planted along the chain link fence - i've seen no evidence yet that they are coming up ~

unfortunately, the sheepnose peppers i planted above were trampled or something. the marker i set up is gone and i have no idea where they were planted, i still have plenty of seed, so this is no problem, but i doubt that they will have any luck if i were to plant them again now (i am sure it's too late), so i will probably have to put those aside for next year - but if i find a spot, i might give them another try....

other than the odd planting here and there that might come up - this will be my garden for this year - updates to follow - wish me luck!

[Dianne Ader]

I love gardening too. I would love to see a picture of your garden, now & when it is growing if you have time.

This is very interesting. I tried this & for some reason my beans did not come up that year or cut worms ate them when they came up. I have had cut worm problem with beans in my row too & researched that & found out putting down crushed egg shells or corn meal will kill or deter them. I did every year plant my squash & pumpkins in the corn patch...but it makes very hard picking corn & not stepping on the pumpkins....But the pumpkin & squash really loved being planted around the corn.

We can not plant here where I live out of Okanogan Washington before Memorial weekend cause of the cold & freezing. I look for seeds that have a fast maturity date & that really helps.

I am surprised you could grow melons. We can not grow them at all.

Dianne

[TasunkaWitko]

hi, ranchhouse ~ yep, we gorow good melons here: watermelon, honeydew and cantaloupe (also called muskmelon). great stuff. the trick seems to be in making sure they get plenty of water, which makes sense, considering that they're full of it ~

pictures of the garden? hopefully as things get going and growing, i can provide some - right now all i have to show for my efforts is a big rectangle of dirt with a few leafy green thigns (tomatoes etc.) at one end and a grid of 36 circles (the three sisters patch) toward the other and a chain-link fence that needs to be weed-eaten in the background.....lol

[CFFarm]

Good Luck!! Hope everything turns out wonderful for you.

[CFFarm]

forgot to add we have always had peaches and cream corn (which is delicious)until this year we went with a heritage breed.

[2stormeyseas]

so, how did your garden turn out?? I'm trying to get ideas for the spring and think the kids would like the 3 sisters idea (at least the youngest will - we've decided she is going to be my farmer partner in this new adventure - her sisters are too "into" friends and books). with moving we didn't get a garden in this year but hope to have a good one next year. that corn in the picture looked good hope it tasted as good