Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Day 108–The Three Sisters Planting a Three Sisters Garden

What is a Three Sisters Garden?  In a three sisters planting, the three crops benefit each other.  Corn provides support for the beans, beans have bacteria on their roots that help them absorb nitrogen from the air and convert it into a form the plants can use, and the large squash leaves shade the soil, preventing weed growth and deter animal pests.  It is planted in a mound rather than rows.  I learned about this in an Integrating Science/Culture in Curriculum at Utah State and taught a Native American Unit as part of the 3rd Grade Social Studies Curriculum.  Brit and Brookie just learned about it during their field trip last Friday, so they were excited to try it.  I’ve been wanting to try this for a long time too, so we’ll see if it works!  We forgot to soak the corn seeds first, but it’s been raining since Monday, so I hope they got soaked that way! 

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