The Beauty & Genius of Three Sisters Farming
By Jere Blackwelder
When Europeans first colonized North America in the late 15th century, they noticed things weren’t the same as in their home countries. There were no roads, only trails. There were no wheels. There were no domesticated beasts of burden; no oxen, horses, donkeys, camels, elephants or mules to pull carts or wagons. Hence, no need for a wheel. Indigenous Americans had yet to develop iron tools so that plowing was not done at all, as was the custom in the Occident for agriculture and road-building.
Nevertheless, there were highly developed and prosperous agricultural practices, particularly in Mesoamerica, where the Mayan and Aztec civilizations flourished. In addition, all along eastern North America, from Florida to Southern Quebec, and westward to the Great Lakes and Mississippi River, hundreds of thousands of acres were under cultivation.
Here is how it worked . . . Land was cleared by setting it on fire, which killed-off most of the weeds and provided a layer of ash which improved the P.H. of the soil for better nutrition. Tall trees might survive the fires, but underbrush would not. Girdling trees opens up the space for sunshine and provides places for birds to nest. On these fields would be planted what is called “Three Sisters” crops: Maize (corn), beans, and squash, all in the same field. The name came from Indigenous American legends of sisters coming down from the sky to show women how to grow these crops. And it was women who cultivated the soil and fed their communities.
In early spring, village farmers mounded-up hills of dirt about three or four inches high, perhaps the size of a large dinner plate. If they had any fish heads saved over the winter, the women would bury one in each mound for fertilizer. Then, three or four maize seeds were planted in the mound. When the stalks were eight inches high or so, bean seeds were added next to the maize. The bean vines twine around the maize, giving the maize stalk an anchor for winds and shrouding the ears of corn, protecting them from deer or raccoons. Next, these farmers planted winter squash all around the beans and maize. The large leaves of the squash or pumpkin shaded the ground, thwarting weeds, keeping the ground moist, and providing an uninviting area for predators.
Remarkably, the combination of these three plants gives a greater yield than if they were planted as traditional row crops. The roots of beans produce a bacteria that adds much needed nitrogen to the soil (a powerful fertilizer required by maize), and the moisture retention properties of the squash leaves mitigate periods of drought. In numerous areas, sunflowers were also planted at the edges of three sisters fields to attract pollinators and provide wind breaks. Truly, the “Three Sisters” practice by Indigenous women is an impressive melding of food producing technologies, one of many which allowed their populations to grow to as many as ten million by the time western Europeans arrived.
Pre-conquest American agriculture had implications beyond their immediate communities and regions. Many climatologists speculate that the scale of Three Sisters methodology, combined with the annual burning off of fields, increased the severity of the “Little Ice Age” (c. 1300-1800) by putting in the atmosphere so much smoke that it further cooled the climate. (Regardless, we do know that at the height of the Little Ice Age, the climate in Greenland could no longer support Viking civilization, and was thus abandoned.) Moreover, within the last decade there has been renewed interest in examining the return Three Sisters-style farming by several agricultural schools, notably Iowa State University and Cornell University, as a way to mitigate the effects of climate change. Adopting such tried-and-true practices would reduce the need for nitrogen fertilizers, fossil fuels, and, over time, replace some of the depleted top soil washed down rivers to the ocean.
Want to see a Three Sisters garden? The Saratoga County History Center maintains an outstanding specimen at Brookside Museum in Ballston Spa. SCHC staff plant one each spring and maintain it throughout the year. Though it is not large enough to ward-off deer, it demonstrates the simple genius of the system and the beautiful inter-dependency of the plants.
Mr. Jere Blackwelder is a trustee of the Saratoga County History Center, and former president of the board. Though he spent his career as an entrepreneur and non-profit administrator, Mr. Blackwelder harbors a life-long passion for history and agriculture. He currently resides in Ballston Spa, NY.
