Three Sisters Gardening; A Native American Method

by Lydia Daffenberg

If you're interested in gardening, you may want to experiment with a Native American method of agriculture this year in your vegetable garden. It would make sense that the Native Americans would be one up on their fellow Americans when it comes to agriculture. After all, they had been employing its practice on this fertile land hundreds of years before the white settler seeded his first corn plant. It is their expertise of living off the land that enables them to teach us a thing or two when it comes to gardening, especially organic gardening.

I came across the Three Sisters planting method when I was living close to the Oneida Reservation located near Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Three Sisters are corn, beans, and squash. This companion method planting is mutually benefical for the plants. The corn becomes support for the climbing beans which produce and release nitrogen back into the soil that the corn depletes. The squash acts as a living mulch of sorts by keeping weed growth down and helping retain soil moisture.

The plants are grown on a mound approximately 1' high and 20" wide. A few corn seeds are sown in the center of the hill. After the corn is about 6" tall, the beans and squash are planted around the corn. The original beans used were a climbing variety, and may be hard to find, but any bean plant will release nitrogen into the soil and climb to some extent. Each mound needs quite a bit of space in-between so the squash can sprawl down the hills and across the ground.

The Legend of the Three Sisters

The term “Three Sisters” emerged from the Iroquois creation myth. It was said that the earth began when “Sky Woman” who lived in the upper world peered through a hole in the sky and fell through to an endless sea. The animals saw her coming, so they took the soil from the bottom of the sea and spread it onto the back of a giant turtle to provide a safe place for her to land. This “Turtle Island” is now what we call North America.

Sky woman had become pregnant before she fell. When she landed, she gave birth to a daughter. When the daughter grew into a young woman, she also became pregnant (by the West wind). She died while giving birth to twin boys. Sky Woman buried her daughter in the “new earth.” From her grave grew three sacred plants—corn, beans, and squash. These plants provided food for her sons, and later, for all of humanity. These special gifts ensured the survival of the Iroquois people.(1)

The above links will give you more information. Give it a try in your garden and let me know your results! I'll publish mine around harvest time. Happy gardening!

1. Erney, Diana. 1996. Long live the Three Sisters: Organic Gardening. Nov. p. 37-40.

First in Line

by Lydia Daffenberg

There's something to be said for keeping with the artistic intention of a work which is the reason I chose to use a small font to keep the structure, hence flow, of the poem intact.

Hints of renewed life flit along hitching a ride on lukewarm breezes;
The forgotten colors of earth promise return like the carnival coming to town.
I breathe in anticipation becoming a child--
Imagining the taste of cotton-candy,
Hearing the distant sounds of the calliope and delighting in the clowns' painted faces.

A few survivalist leaves cling relentlessly to thin-ended branches--
The remaining undergarnments of almost-bare trees--
Dancing their last bump and grind of the season in the 10 o'clock burlesque,
Preparing for their grand finale: Spring.

Curvaceous new buds will soon emerge, pushing the aged and tattered leaves aside--
The new stage show replacing the worn-out with heightened excitement.
The ravaged, seasoned leaves hang; their crumpled bodies sagging toward the ground,
Reminiscing their Glory Days.

The park is yet bare of new life but that of a small boy who
Stampedes through melted snow puddles
Killing Ol' Man Winter with every leap--
Aiding in the reunion of earth and water into muddy pools.

I wait around to be the first in line to purchase
A red perforated-edged ticket and an overflowing bag of stale-tasting popcorn,
Wondering if my stamina will outlast the young lad's.

Happy Lady Day! (Ostara)

by Lydia Daffenberg

Whether one calls it Eostara, Ostara or Lady Day, pagans of varied traditions celebrate this holiday. It is observed on either March 20: the Vernal Equinox when the sun crosses the equator entering the astrological sign of Aries or March 25: the traditional folk date when festivities begin on its Eve. This is the begining of Spring; the victory of light over darkness. This time of year represents the warrior aspect of the God who appears victorious over the long, dark days of winter. The days are now equal to the nights in length. This is the festival of fertility.

Eostara is truely a lunar holiday honoring the Teutonic lunar Goddess, Eostre. (This is also where the name for the female hormone, estrogen, comes from.) At this time, there is a new moon (when the moon does not appear in the sky). This time of darkness lasts three days. The next Vernal full moon (Eostara) is celebrated; the return of the Goddess. Interestingly, this correlates to the story of the ressurection of Christ after three days, which Mike Nichols discusses in his in-depth article: Lady Day; The Vernal Equinox.

Whichever date one choses to observe, traditionally, this is a time when seeds are blessed for the season's planting and eggs are colored and placed around the home and altar. Hares have roots in Celtic Paganism, and are an obvious sister-symbol of the egg. Both represent fertility. It is no surprise that the fertility of rabbits has been an observed fact of nature for hundreds of years. At one time, it was thought that rabbits laid eggs because rabbit burrows are commonly concave with fur lining the sides. This resembles a bird's nest. The colors of light green, yellow and pale pink are used to represent the returning colors of Spring. Yellow and gold also symbolize the returning strength of the Sun (his fighting spirit) from his winter slumber.

A traditionally-rooted pagan custom is to give women the gift of a new broom, and to men, a new staff. Each of these can be seen to represent a fresh start, a new beginning. A broom to clean away the old and start fresh, and a staff to "start out" fresh, with new strength, seeking out new possibilities. Twisted bread and sweetcakes are prepared and served at dusk--reminding one of the sweetness of the season. It is an excellent time to plant seeds or start a magikal garden. Partake in the outdoors and relish in the returning warmth of the air and the returning growth on the earth. Listen to the birds sing. Spring is here, rejoice!