I heard about this growing technique a few years ago and thought this year I would give it a go. The idea is that the Sweetcorn provides growing support for the Beans, whilst the squash provides ground cover. These 3 are companion plants meaning they grow in harmony together and help deter pests and replenish nutrients into the earth.
It's my first year growing Sweetcorn as well so hopefully this works. If not it's a lesson for next year.
First I planted out the corn into 4 sets of 5 corn plants. Two at top,one in middle, 2 underneath. Then repeated 4 times in the bed.
Once the corn had been planted, I sown either a Borlotti Bean or Mangetout next to the Sweetcorn. So there will be 2 x Corn and Mangetout and 2 x Corn and Borlotti Beans.
This should mean the corn grows as the Bean/Mangetout germinate and grow and then eventually grow up the corn.
Mangetout Seeds
Borlotti Seeds
Cider when sowing is a must!
Now that the Sweetcorn and Beans/Mangetout have gone in. Next comes the Squash.
I have opted for 2 types of Squash this bed. 2 x Butternut Squash and I didnt actually count but maybe 6 PettyPan Yellow Squashes.
I planted this on the outside of the corn about a foot in from the edge of the bed. I read online that squashes grow in the opposite direction to their first true leaf so I hopefully planted them the right way around!
You can see in this photo where I am deciding where to plant them.
Unfortunately I didnt get any close ups!
But here is the squashes and cucumbers before I planted them!
In addition to the 3 sisters, yesterday I also planted Courgette in two of the corners and Mini Munchkin Cucumbers in pots.
In addition I also covered over my recently sown Kale, Chard and Bush Beans to help with germination.
On the other bed I also sown Red Iceberg Lettuce seedlings.
Plenty of watering to be keeping up with now. We are actually having a lovely warm dry spell in Wales. Temperature has been above 20 for the last few days. Wahooo!!!
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Such a thrill to see plants grow from scratch.
It really is =D
I love squash.
Great post! It's so nice to read about other allotment goers. We just had our annual Poo Day, where a good friend of ours helps us fill his big trailer with about 1.5 tonnes of manure from his brother's farm.
It's such a slog on a hot day like today and I'm exhausted now, but it's so good to get a good supply of new organic matter into the plot, and it'll boost all the plants for another year!
I think we tried the sweetcorn idea a few years back, but unfortunately our island is terrifically windy, so I'm not sure it worked quite the way we expected. But I'd like to give it another go. I think I read that this is how indigenous South American farmers grew their crops before Europeans settled there.
Thank You so much!
Wow that sounds like an intense poo day and some really hard graft.
All of that organic matter will do the veg so good. I topped up my beds with compost but no poo this year.
Ahhh yeah give it another go. I can imagine the wind causing you a lot of trouble. My house is very open to the Elements and I must admit I can't grow much here without it being wind broken.
I've heard the same about this growing method and its history. Really interesting.