CADL Seed Library

Resources:

• Plant a Three Sisters Garden: Corn, Beans, and Squash | The Old Farmer's Almanac

• How to Plant the Three Sisters (with Pictures) - wikiHow

To plant the Three Sisters (corn, beans, and squash), follow these steps:

1. Choose a sunny spot. Find a location with full sun and create a mound of soil about 12 inches high and 3-4 feet wide. Flatten the top of the mound.​​​​​​
2. Planting sequence. Start by planting corn in late spring after frost danger has passed. Plant corn kernels at 1 inch depth and 6" apart in the flattened center of the mound. You can soak the corn kernels first for 4 hours for faster germination.
3. Thin the corn seedlings when they are about 3 inches tall - keep 3-4 plants. The corn should now be about 10-12 inches apart.
4. When the corn is about 4-6 inches tall, plant the beans and squash around it.
5. Plant 3-4 bean seeds at 1 inch depth and in a circle 6 inches away from the each corn stalk. No need for stakes - the corn will become a natural stake.
6. After the beans have sprouted, plant squash seeds 1 foot away from the beans, in a circle around the edges of the mound. The squash needs the most sun.
7. Water the mound about 1 inch of water every week (about .6 gallons per foot of mound). Mulch around the seedlings.
8. Support and benefits. The corn provides support for the climbing beans, while the beans add nitrogen to the soil, and the squash helps protect the other plants.

Seeds: True Leaf Market Seed Company

Bean - Blue Lake Bush

• Days to germination: 5-8
• Days to maturity: 50-70
• Seed planting depth: 1"
• Plant spacing: 6-8"
• Light preference: full sun

A tender and delicious variety that is excellent due to its versatility in the kitchen! Blue Lake Pole vines can grow up to 12 feet long, and due to their growth habit, they require some kind of growing guidance such as poles or strings. The oval pods produced are crisp and tender, growing up to 6" long. This variety is a type of green or string bean. They grow quickly and are easy to grow, making them an excellent addition to the home garden.

Growing info source: True Leaf Market Seed Company

Corn - Jubilee Sweet Hybrid

• Days to germination: 7-10
• Days to maturity: 80-89
• Seed planting depth: 1"
• Plant spacing: 10"
• Light preference: Full sun

Sweet Corn is the most popular corn for eating as corn on the cob or corn niblets. It has a high sugar content and is best enjoyed when picked a little early before the sugars turn to starch. This is your classic barbeque and picnic summer corn.

Growing info source: True Leaf Market Seed Company

Squash - Summer Crookneck

• Days to germination: 4-14
• Days to maturity: 50-60
• Planting depth: 1"
• Plant spacing: 36"
• Light preference: Full sun

Golden Summer Crookneck is a bush type plant produces copious yields of buttery-yellow squash with narrow curved neck. This squash is very tender and full of flavor. Golden summer turns deeper yellow as it matures. Best harvested when 8" long. Keep them picked and they will just keep coming. Extremely easy to grow. Golden Summer Crookneck is one of the earliest producing crookneck squash on the market that just keeps producing all summer long.

Growing info source: True Leaf Market Seed Company

Carrot - Little Finger

• Days to maturity: 55
• Seed planting depth: 1/2"
• Plant spacing: 1-2"
• Light preference: Full sun

These seeds thrive when they are planted in the late spring or early summer. For a continual harvest, sow a couple of rows every two weeks. Be sure that the soil has a pH level of approximately seven, is sandy and moist, and is free of bumps and rocks. Each seed should be covered in half an inch of soil with one to two inches between the plants and twelve to eighteen inches between rows. Watch out for insects such as carrot rust flies. Water each plant with around an inch of water each week. After about fifty-five days, the Little Fingers carrots will be ready to be pulled out of the ground. To keep them for a longer period of time after harvest, pull off the tops and keep them in a box buried in dirt in a cool place.

Growing info source: True Leaf Market Seed Company