Kathryn has been providing educational services in various scenarios for over 15 years, focusing on hands on nature study. She currently works for the Dept. of Conservation and Recreation, as Visitor Services Supervisor at Purgatory Chasm.

If you do not have a Three Sisters Garden at your park, center, school or home, I strongly encourage you to give it a try! What better way to study sustainability in society than to take a closer look at how this growing method has sustained the people of North America?

The "Three Sisters" are corn, squash, and beans. When planted together, these plants tend to thrive and provide organic produce with very little environmental impact. In fact, this method of companion planting actually can improve the soil.

Basically, a symbiotic relationship is formed in which the legumes "fix" nitrogen in the soil, enriching the garden bed for nitrogen-hungry corn. In turn, corn's strong stalks provide climbing support for runner beans. Squash planted at the base repels unwanted garden pests with its rough hairy leaves. The large spreading leaves of squash also act as living mulch by trapping moisture at the shallow roots of the corn.  The Three Sisters do more than just work together in the garden! The nutrients found in corn, beans, and squash compliment each other and with the addition of fish, make a balanced diet.

Planting a Three Sisters garden on site can serve many purposes. My first year experiment was not a success by an avid gardener's standards, but it did exactly what I intended it to do. This garden project filled an essential need for inquiry based learning by providing a living example that participants could actively investigate. The time and effort was well worth the investment to have props for lessons readily available, such as watching which insects that could navigate the prickly leaves of squash or measuring the exposed roots of corn stalks.

Photo: Counting ladybugs in the Three Sisters Garden at Blackstone River & Canal Heritage State Park.

The possibilities for additional cross-curricular activities seem endless! From a preschool bug safari to seventh grade soil science, the Three Sisters Garden can be a great teaching tool for such topics as worms, composting, symbiotic relationships, weather, math, legends, history, and journaling weekly changes.

To get started in planning your own Three Sisters Garden, there are numerous online resources available, from seed vendors to garden bloggers.

I have found those mentioned below to be comprehensive and easy to use. Happy Gardening!

Cornell University Garden-Based Learning
http://blogs.cornell.edu/garden/get-activities/signature-publications/
The signature publication "The Three Sisters: Exploring an Iroquois Garden" is available in a 28 page pdf format and includes the legend, planting instructions, and cross curricular activities.
Cornell Garden Based Learning also offers additional resources designed for 4-H leaders, which are very user friendly. Includes supply lists, lesson times and schedules.

National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service
http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/complant.html
Basic concepts and scientific foundations of companion planting, complete with garden charts and layout diagrams.