sweetcorn

[Berr]

The Three Sisters- which varieties.

I'm proposing to use sweetcorn Swift, clg. French bean Blue Lake and butternut squash Sprinter- this in tunnel. Outside, if room, going to do sweetcorn Swift, Piglet's Carnival squash, and clg. French bean Cosse Violette.

Berr.

[Jan]

I'm going to do sweetcorn swift, beans bluelake and cobra, with goldrush courgettes and pattypan squash underplanted - good luck all, jan

[Ratty]

I quite fancy this idea of the Three Sisters... but I have a couple of questions!

1. Could I use out-door cucumbers instead of squashes? What do they taste like? I can't stand squashes and the pumpkins I grew last year just became halloween lanterns because nobody wanted to eat them!

2. Could I use peas instead of beans - We had more beans than we could eat last year from just two 4' rows!!

Thanks in advance for any replies!!

John

[SueA]

Don't see why not Ratty, you just need something to climb up the sweetcorn & something to cover the ground & they're from basically the same families. For outdoor cucumbers try 'Marketmore' or 'Burpless Tasy Green', they taste as nice as indoor ones but have thicker skins, sometimes with prickles so you are best peeling them.They can either be grown up poles etc. or left to trail on the ground so should work the same as squashes. Do you not like courgettes, they can be chopped up & put in all sorts of meals, pasta sauces, roast veg. mixes etc.?

[Ratty]

Thanks Sue - I'll try a mixture of beans and peas up my corn and a couple of cucumbers for cover and maybe a courgette or two

Trouble is, my O/H and her kids are so set in their ways - They only eat boring veg with sunday roasts... potato, peas and carrots!

Courgettes and prickly cucumbers may be just TOO exotic!!

[Flummery]

The three sisters idea does sound interesting but it worries me that I will have to tread into the bed to harvest the beans (which I do every day when they're cropping well). Won't this be difficult with high corn plants and squash underfoot? This year I'm growing sweetcorn 'sunrise', climbing french bean empress and cobra (LOVE french beans) and squash sweet dumpling - also zuchini which would do the same job I guess.
Still reserving judgement about whether to go for 3 sisters or not. I've got a garden veg plot. Not as much space as an allotment. Might try one or two of the mounds mentioned above and compare with standard growing methods. It's interesting to see what the rest of you are doing. Thanks for all the inspiration.

[muckdiva]

I'm growing standard bicolour sweet corn from Real Seeds this year which is a non-F1 variety. I was interested to read that the info from Real Seeds says saving seed from sweet corn, even if it is an open pollinated variety like this, is not really advisable unless you are planting 250 or more plants, as the quality of plants deteriorates rapidly over a few years.

I will be planting the three sisters way hopefully, with Cherokee Trail of Tears climbing beans, 1 per sweet corn plant, and underplanted with Pigletwillie's carnival squash. This is the first time I am trying this method, so very interested to see how it works.

[terrier]

I planted a block (about 15 plants) of sweetcorn last year. I used an early maturing variety and spaced the plants about 18" apart and underplanted with Zuccini. I started the sweetcorn in pots and then planted out.The plants grew well and looked healthy with mostly 3 cobs per plant but when I started to harvest them, the cobs were almost devoid of corn. Can anyone hazzard a guess as to what went wrong?

[Heidi]

We're going to try the Three Sisters approach this year too.

We're growing:

2 rows of Minipop sweetcorn
2 blocks of Siesta sweetcorn
1 row of Baby sweetcorn (was no variety on the seen packet)
1 block of Conqueror sweetcorn

Butternut squash
Sweet Dumpling squash
Jack Be Little Pumpkins
Ball Courgettes
Courgettes (not sure what variety)

Borlotti Lingue Di Fuoco
Borlotti Rosso
Dwarf French Bean Signora Della Campagna
Dwarf French Bean Black Valentine

Half of the sweetcorns are down on the plot, and the others are growing in pots. Most of the squashes and beans are growing quite nicely. Just hoping the sweetcorn takes off soon as the beans are getting quite big!

[Mrs Dobby]

We are doing 3 beds of 3 sisters and one of 2 sisters!

2 sisters is Minipop sweetcorn with Ghostrider on one half and Butternut squash on the other

1st 3 Sisters is a block of Lark Sweetcorn with Baby Bear pumpkin and a mixture of Pea Bean in the center with Borlotti Beans around the outside!

2nd 3 sisters is a block of Ovation Sweetcorn with Mars Pumpkin and a mixture of Pea Bean in the center and Kentucky Bean around the outside!

3rd 3 Sisters Bed is a block of Jubilee Sweetcorn with Carnival Squash and a mixture of Pea Bean in the center with Borlotti around the outside!

We are also going to plant a few sunflowers in each of the 3 sisters beds, there's a squirrel problem on the site, so hopefully they will go for the sunflower seeds rather than the sweetcorn, but only time will tell!

[shirlthegirl43]

Might give this idea a try but with peas as we don't eat beans much (other than dwarf ones and that would be a waste of the idea) and cucumbers as well as squashes. Have F1 Swift sweetcorn and a blue variety already 4 inches tall. Think I might plant the purple podded mangetout with the blue sweetcorn and I am expecting some blue patty pan seeds soon so that will be a colourful bed!

[shirlthegirl43]

How's everyone's 3 sisters beds doing? I just planted out my sweetcorn but the peas are bigger than it so I am not sure whether to wait a bit or plant them anyway. Any suggestions folks?

[mandyballantyne]

Hi Shirl,

I have the same problem! Beans and courgettes huge and corn not as big.

I am also worried about the corn snapping in the wind as I had one do this when I started to harden them off. I am a bit further north so was thinking of waitng a few more weeks.

Look forward to seeing your replies, Mandy

[Alice]

I think it will help if you read the post by Kethry in this thread. It cleared a lot of things up for me.
http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...+klein+sisters

[terrier]

Last year I grew a block of sweetcorn underplanted with courgettes. The cougettes grew well but no corn formed on the sweetcorn cobs. I was told this was possibly lack of water. How do you ensure there is enough water for two sets of thirsty plants? This year I was thinking of planting the sweetcorn in trenches to concentrate the water to the plants.