The Science Behind The Three Sisters

The Iroquois Indians never gave it much thought, but there was a lot of science behind their farming methods, both nutritional and agricultural.

Many Indian tribes were dependant on hunter/gather behavior, but when one item could not be found there was a deficit in the nutrition. The three sisters are interesting because they are a balanced diet. Corn supplies carbohydrates and a variety of important amino acids. Beans have protein, including two essential amino acids that corn lacks. Squash contributes vitamin A. Squash seeds also contain quality fats that corn and beans lack. So the Iroquois stayed relatively health all the time.

So what about the agriculture? Corn is a heavy nitrogen feeder, squash need pollinators, and the Indians did not really plow the land. So why this combination? Initial feeding of the corn was done with fish, a couple small minnows with the seeds, once the corn in 7" tall the beans were planted, which climb the corn (trellising) and like most legumes they fix nitrogen into the base of the corn plant right out of the air. The beans also attracts pollinators with their flowers, kept picked for a few weeks beans create a lot of flowers and the pollinators get used to returning. Once the beans are a foot tall or so, the pumpkins were planted and by the time they set flowers the bees know right where to go (they have been trained). At that point the last 1/2 of the beans were allowed to grow and mature, dry out and stored for seed and food, same for the corn.

All the shaman of the Iroquois knew is it worked. But there was a lot of good reason why it worked and was sustainable. The early settlers owed quite a bit to this method also, because these were the staples the Indians traded them, and taught them to grow.

Next time... Some garden pictures and plans for a micro orchard.