Three Sisters: Corn, Beans & Squash
The traditional trio: corn carries the beans, beans feed the soil, squash shades out weeds.
Season timeline
- Sow the corn
- Sow beans and squash
- Harvest the corn
- Pick the beans
- Harvest the squash
- Clear the bed
Bed layout
Crops in this bed
Step by step
- Sow the cornMay
In mid-May, after the last frost, sow corn in blocks rather than single rows so it pollinates well.
- Sow beans and squashJun
When the corn stands about 20 cm tall, sow beans at each stalk and squash between the mounds.
- Harvest the cornAug–Sep
Pick the cobs when the silks turn brown and the kernels squirt milky juice.
- Pick the beansAug–Oct
Pick pods every few days to keep the plants producing right up to the frosts.
- Harvest the squashSep–Oct
Cut the fruits with a piece of stem once the rind hardens, and before the first frost.
- Clear the bedOct–Nov
Chop the spent stalks and vines for compost; leave the bean roots in the soil, they hold the nitrogen.
Harvest calendar
| Crop | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maize | Maize: Aug | Maize: Sep | ||||||||||
| Bean | Bean: Aug | Bean: Sep | Bean: Oct | |||||||||
| Bitter bottle gourd | Bitter bottle gourd: Sep | Bitter bottle gourd: Oct |
The bed over the season
- Maize · Sowing
- Maize · Growing
- Maize · Harvest
- Bean · Sowing
- Bean · Growing
- Bean · Harvest
- Bitter bottle gourd · Sowing
- Bitter bottle gourd · Growing
- Bitter bottle gourd · Harvest
Why this combination works
The Three Sisters is a centuries-old Native American planting method. Corn grows first and becomes a living trellis for the climbing beans, which in turn fix nitrogen from the air and feed all three crops. Squash sprawls between the stalks, and its broad leaves work as a living mulch that shades out weeds and keeps the soil moist. Together the trio uses light, soil and space more completely than any of them alone.
Tips
Wait until the soil is properly warm; corn sown into cold ground sulks and beans rot. Sow the beans only once the corn stands about 20 cm tall, or they overwhelm the young stalks. Choose a pole bean, not a bush type. Water at the base of the mounds; the squash canopy hides dry soil.