The beauty of three sisters

I'm one of three sisters, and I absolutely love the other two. So when I look at the three sisters in my garden, I often wonder which of the three represents my dearest sisters and which is me. The easy answer would be that the squash plant has yellow flowers that my youngest sister would like (she loves yellow), and the corn is the tallest, which could represent the middle child in our family as she's tallest. So that leaves me as a scarlet runner bean? Well, I do like to wear red, but I guess I might be reading too much into this!

My three sisters garden box has done beautifully this year -- I've never had such tall and productive corn, the beans are blooming beautifully, and there are a few little squash that might amount to something yet if I'm lucky frost-wise. Other years I made the mistake of planting all the sisters at once, but this year I planted the corn first, and when it was five inches tall (two weeks later) I hilled the corn a little and planted the beans. A week after that, I planted the squash. Of course, the idea is that the oldest sister, the corn, supports the climbing beans and squash plants as they grow, the beans give nitrogen to the soil and hold all three sisters close together against the wind by winding through the corn stalks and squash vines, and the squash leaves shade, mulch and protect the trio's feet from weed infestations.

When I look at these sisters' interdependence, I realize that my sisters and I share aspects of all three at different times. We've all been each others' supports, we've all huddled together in tougher times, and we've all sheltered each other through different storms -- though I admit that due to my commitments to husband and kids, I probably haven't been as present to them as they have been to me a lot of the time. L and J, I am so grateful for your presence in my life, your deep friendship, and our sisterhood!

My sisters are patient and loving, and they put up with me when I get a little corny!

Garden days

It was too hot last week to spend a lot of time out in our gardens, but we had a nice rain on Sunday, and things have cooled down. So today and tomorrow I'll be tackling weeds, turning compost, and finding the rock garden rocks that have sunk into the soil. Lots to do. Wonder if I can convince my teenager to help me? Could be tricky as she has a slew of new library books to read.

Anyway, here are a few pics:

Here's the funky sea holly that didn't do anything last summer,

but is making up for it now. Maybe it prefers dry weather?

Gaillardia, zinnias, delphiniums 

and our birdbath hanging in the Russian Olive tree.

The yellow lilies are so showy!

And the orange ones are holding their own, too.

There are smatterings of colour all over the front yard,

at least until the lilies finish.

Sweet peas are my absolute favourite.

In the vegetable garden, things are taking off, too.

Here are Landon and Christina's 2000-year-old squash. 

Still no idea what the fruit will be like.

And the three sisters (beans, corn and squash) 

are starting to overflow their box, too.

The garden is at its lushest, weeds included. 

I've got my work cut out for me!

Enjoy summer while it lasts!

Three sisters

I come from a family with three sisters, I've given birth to three sisters, and now I'm growing three more sisters.

Beans, corn,  and squash are the three sisters of the vegetable garden. After reading Joseph Boyden's book, The Orenda, a really fascinating novel about the Huron and Iroquois First Nations people and the French immigrants who brought them the small pox, guns and liquor, I decided to try some Aboriginal wisdom in my garden. The three sisters, supplemented with hunting, supplied a lot of the food for the original Canadians, and though this won't be supplying a lot of food for us (it's only one box out of 32 in my garden) I'm enjoying watching the sisters as they grow.

Companion planting has occurred for many centuries. The idea, in the case of squash, corn and beans, is that the nitrogen provided by the pole bean plant feeds the corn, which provides a trellis for it. The squash also benefits from the nitrogen, and shades the roots of the other two to prevent the soil from drying too much in the heat, like a living natural mulch. Of course, the First Nations people didn't use all these scientific words, but they clearly understood that the trinity of plants grew best together.

I suspect, already, that I've done my planting wrong -- should have waited until the corn was taller before adding the squash and bean seeds because the bean is already higher than the other two! But we'll see what happens, and I'll post pictures as things progress, and learn from my mistakes, as is often the case! Gardening has so much to teach me!