Three Sisters Garden Planner

How It Works

The Three Sisters is one of the oldest and most elegant companion planting systems in history. Developed by Native American peoples, it combines corn, beans, and squash in a mutually beneficial arrangement. The tall corn gives beans something to climb, eliminating the need for poles or trellises. The beans pull nitrogen from the air and fix it in the soil through their roots, feeding the heavy-feeding corn and squash. The broad squash leaves sprawl across the ground, shading out weeds and keeping the soil cool and moist. Together, these three crops also provide a nutritionally complete diet: corn for carbohydrates, beans for protein, and squash for vitamins and healthy fats.