Results from our first-year Back to Eden garden: Corn, Beans, and Squash (Three Sisters Method) 

Corn and beans should be planted as soon as the soil temperature is 10C at 7am. Look ahead 3 days in the forecast, if there is a big rain or a cold rain coming do not plant. 3 days after seeding is a critical time for corn. Cold snap, especially on non hybrid open pollinated corn is a real issue. I would plant the beans a lot closer to the base of the corn plants too. I've had good luck planting the corn on 1ft spacing with 3 beans around each corn plant. The beans almost immediately find the corn trellis and follow it up as each leaf emerges. Beans have a very poor root system and nodualtion, especially if you don't inoculate will occur primarily only on the tap root. Nitrogen while it does move vertically well doesn't move horizontally much in the soil as once thought so position of the plants are critical. With your no-til system AMF populations will be good and nitrogen transfer will be increased but the closer the better. This past year I had amazing success skipping the squash and instead planting cucumbers under the corn/beans as the third sister. Easily the best cucumbers I've ever tasted. Our pumpkins were close by and the vines found their way into the 3 sisters and while at first I thought I was losing yield the pumpkins actually extended my bean harvest well into November in Eastern Ontario as the large leaves took the brunt of the killing frosts ans spared the beans on the soil surface for one more set of flowers to survive.

I am rewatching all your videos just for fun. My mom just passed away at age 94. She would say every so often, “Let’s see what Derrick and Paula are up to.” She loved all your videos. So thanks for teaching us and entertaining us.

Funny thing, I always envisioned one corn plant, one bean plant and one squash plant - planted together - at the same time - and let them do their own thing... My peas are going up my beets - WELL, NOW I KNOW.... - however - it is always FUN to discover how nature works... :) (unless your food depends on it, in which case....)

Here’s a tip , you can freeze your corn 🌽 all the leaves on your corn will protect your corn in the freezer and will last a long long time and fresh , try it.

Your idea of success is different. Smaller cobs and less time seems like a win to me

excellent content. I love that these videos are narrated after the fact so we never have to wait for the results! It must take incredible patience to sit on this footage for an entire growing season.

to correct you, it was originally the 4 sister however since the 4th sister did not produce a crop the pioneer switch it to the 3 sister, the 4th sister would be something like white cosmo. The 4th sister act to repel bugs that would attack the corn. (the 4th sister is usually certain flower that act as a detonator.) Also you may want to try some scented marigold to help with the racoon. They hate the smell of marigolds. I would say sprinkle some marigold seed along your fence and they do produce allot of seeds for next year.

Your animations are great! Simple but effective. I like the style and the clearly organized information throughout your videos. New sub!

Another video I watched on the "three sisters method" suggested that the squash acts as a defense against critters like raccoons, because of the "spines" on the squash vines. So maybe encircling your corn and beans with the squash on the perimeter. The video also suggested sunflowers, amaranth and bee balm as "additional sisters" that would attract pollinators and keep birds interested in something other than your corn.

I've read about three sisters in my indigenous studies class and I think it was traditionally done with winter squash, pole beans that you eat dried (like black beans) and the cattle or flour corn. I have heard it doesn't work as well when you substitute summer squash and sweet corn.

At Cherokee nation we plant in mounds and plant everything on each mound. Plus that looked like sweet corn, maybe try growing flint corn. As far as timing goes after 1week of corn growth, you plant the beans and 1-2weeks after that, you plant the squash.

1:02 ** The Eden Method does NOT mean you never water. After many years he now never waters his "Orchard", which is all trees, and the roots of trees go much deeper than a regular garden. Plus he lives in Washington where it rains a decent amount. He would still water his "Vegetable Garden" sometimes. Although each year you should be able to water less and less as the soil becomes more fertile and layered. ** Also he DOES fertilize. He has chickens and uses their composted fertilizer all the time to improve his soil. That is also mentioned. I feel pointing this out is important because someone starting an Eden garden might try to garden without compost, or water - fail - then quit trying the Eden method. Take small steps. The first step is spreading out tons of mulch. Call tree trimming services near you see if you can get some delivered. I use the Eden method and water all the time, here in San Diego with very little rain. But my watering might go months before I need to water again. Depends on the weather and my plants. Thumbs up on the rest of the video though

Greetings from Nova Scotia Canada! One of the best posts on mulch gardening presented by a layman to layman!

Love that you are doing all the experimenting and I get to reap the rewards! Thank you!

I love your gardening videos. Please keep them coming!

I just found your channel and really like it. Very good editing clear and direct information. Very good job guys.

I loved the production value of your video and how you got right to the point, with no filler. You just earned another subscriber!

The 3 sisters method from the southwest involves planting isolated hills of corn, so that all 3 plants receive enough sun to mature. Planting corn in rows prevents this sun penetration.

I love your videos, so detailed, informative, and honest! Thank you!

Of all the farming videos on RU-vid, you have the best format. Great videos!!

Well delivered information. Thank you.

Thanks for sharing back to eden farming experience!

Lovely! I hope you try again next year!

thank you for all that u do!

One way to get better results with less corn plants is to shake the stalks on days with little to no wind

The graphics are very clear, great work

Wonderful explanations. Very lucid.

Excellent video Glad I found you guys!!

Traditionally, at least in some cultures, the three sisters garden were planted in a circular form, rather than rows: a large circular path of corn in the center, beans interplanted with the corn side by side, and with the winter squash planted in a ring around the outside, and allowed to grow into the center wherever a gap might develop where weeds could grow. Additionally, sunflowers or sunroots (the badly named Jerusalem artichoke) were planted in several rows on the windward side of the garden to shield the crops from harsh winds - sometimes on multiple sides of the garden.

Nice to see you! Love your video's.

Great video! Thanks for sharing, looking forward to the fence build...

Thank you for the education

I find u guys so amazing...man i learn so much...easy garde ing gives me also courage to grow even more...great ideals...simple n fun...n ur videos dont make me feel like a total dummy...u give me confidence to understand n i can do this...thx u so much

Fantastic video, thanks ❤

Thank you! Very professional and focused presentation! I guess this video has been a lot of work, but I think the result is really worth it!

Always love your videos! So well executed with graphics and so easy to understand. 👍

Excellent video. In the rest of the continent this method of planting corn, beans and squash is known as "milpa". Thank you very much.

thanks for the update.

Great info

Love your videos!

Although the Back to Eden method highly recommends wood chips, they say you can also for instance use hay, leafs, or even rocks. And you can also add chicken or horse manure on the very top. And then the rain will bring it down into the soil. (Which is a great thing to do when you don't have time to wait for the wood chips to break down. So many have chickens on the side, which are fed left overs from the garden.

This was my first video of yours. I’m new to BTE and the Ruth Stout method. I’m converting my garden this year and really liked what you had to say. (I’m even going to try videoing my transition and results) Thank you. Off to watch more videos.

One minute in and I'm subbed. Great stuff, guys--super useful info and very inspiring

I'm a new subscriber. Excellent videos. Very instructional. Thank you. My wife and I play with gardening but I have felt we need to step it up several notches. Thanks again.

another awesome vid

Great videos! My husband and I also tried out the BTE method last year with corn and beans, and we too had similar results of small under-developed cobs. It;s good to know that multiple rows is the fix! Otherwise we were very happy with the method, as we had peas, carrots, tomatoes, dill and sunflowers come up and grow with little watering throughout the season. This year we mulched our garden and addressing the fence issues as well (I posted 2 videos on that). Although I don't think our fence will prevent squirrels and chipmunks from stealing. Raccoons are a toughie.

"more corn that we could consume" *laughs in mexican*

thank you this was very helpful

I'm from a nation that uses this traditionally--Eastern Band Cherokee. None of my settler friends had ever seen it (I live in Connecticut now, where it's mostly Italian-Americans) and quite a few gardeners adopted it because it just works so well.

As the comments mentioned you will need to take multiple steps to stop raccoons. My grand parents had two dogs which just slowed the raccoons down. Then they put up reflective pie tins to confuse raccoons. Which worked. Then they hunted them with 22 rifles which worked. As others commented you could plant hot peppers on the edges. Also place a solar powered electric fence system. They work. Also use chicken wire fence.

In the southern US my parents, grandparents, and many before them planted corn and beans together in the same hole at the same time. They would grow and sprout at a pace that worked perfectly to allow the beans to climb fully up the corn stalk.

Sharing!

Wonderful information on your three sisters gardening experience. Have plans to implement this method into our gardens here in Missouri. Wishing you an amazing growing season ♡

Awesome tyfs you're very thorough Great Video!😁❤👍🏾

Fantastic video, love it. So glad for the update! Just a suggestion might want to plant really hot pepper plants along fence. ..might help. We do 1 every 8-10ft with sweet peppers, mint, cilantro in between. Keep us informed!

I. subscribed your Chanel because you let the hungry family of Raccoon eat your vegetables. You are so kind. I like it. From Thailand.

Wow that was interesting never knew 🙏

I just saw this today and do not know what you decided but you never mix your wood chips with the soil or you will have a nitrogen problem. When I saw this I realized that you never watered each layer from the beginning. I'm glad you did better in the second year. The planting as you did was the real problem with regards to your yield. BTW Fix that fence!😉 I live in a short growing season, Zone 4 Northwood Maine. I start as many things as I can very simply indoors under simple grow lights. They can be transplanted asap and finish up nicely. Corn, like garlic and onions, need to be planted en masse. Be careful to read the instructions and growing recommendations. We like you, practice different types of methods. The one I will always stand by, even though I always have my soil covered is french intensive gardening which is a 3 to 1 yield. 40 years and this has not failed me yet. We are starting again in our new state. I see no reason we should not get the same results here. Bean plants I start inside depending on the beans. Have you thought of vertical gardening along with everything else you are doing? Saves space and can create a pretty arch. Great airflow and helps to eliminate the problems climbing plants tend to suffer from. There are a very few RU-vidr's out there that know how to do this well and inexpensively. I can get their info. Have fun while you are learning.

(NATIVE AMERICANS ANCIENT METHOD) of farming,what a legacy for the world to follow.

cracking video

I love love love your videos. I just wish there were more 😊😊😊

Recently found you and am really liking your graphic explanations. Very cute and helpful! I love seeing you try various permaculture styles, I know thats how I am too, I always want to try it all! haha

I had groundhogs mowing my garden weekly. I installed a solar powered electric fence, cost @$150. The next day I caught one on security camera attempting to get under the wire. Not only was the reaction to the shock hilarious, they never went in again. I think our racoons could read the warning signs and stuck with our bird feeder.

Great video

Yo guys are really cool and explain things very well. Instant subscribe.

Herd “bone sauce “ works great for keeping critters away. We are going to make some this winter for next season as we will be starting a BTE garden. I have spent many hours listeria Paul Gautchi regarding his gardening. Enjoyed your videos.

Great video thanks!! I am definitely going to try this method next summer! I'm in Australia so Im lucky we have less veggie eating critters!

5:11 I remember there is talk about using the squash (they tend to have barbed like haires) to try to keep racoons away from the corn.

I think your only problem was that you live in Canada. Most instructions for planting the 3 sisters method say to plant exactly as you did with each sister being started from seed approximately 3 weeks apart. That would work in a warmer climate with a longer growing season. Here in northern Utah I don't think it will work because I have to plant my corn and beans at the same time as soon as the ground warms, and the squash only has enough time for a good harvest if I start seed 4 or 5 weeks beforehand.

Compost is incredibly rich in nitrogen so you could never have had nitrogen issues. In fact, I learned recently that putting compost in autumn is not a good idea. Compost has unstable nitrogen, it leaks in the water, the rivers... It's not stored like in humus. It's immediate nitrogen available for your plants. It also does not improve your soil, because it's already been digested in the composting bin. It's just a fertilizer. It's useful, but it doesn't build soil, unlike what a lot of people claim (like Charles Dowding who has 20 cm of compost over his whole garden, which is just wrong...). Like you I thought over winter it would build soil and feed the organisms. It didn't. Only the areas with mulch added did. So now I only use compost on parts of my garden where the mulch is young and I know my plants will struggle without the added nitrogen. Another myth : beans do not give nitrogen to the other plants, unless you grow them in a nitrogen depleted soil. And even that isn't proven. It's important to understand a couple of things : 1) The symbiosis between legumes and nitrogen fixing bacteria ONLY happens if your soil is poor. If there's already nitrogen in it (like yours, which has loads), they don't bother activating the symbiosis, nature is lazy. 2) Even is they activate the symbiosis, they will only give nitrogen to other plants through mycorrhiza. And the amount is still not proven. People thought they measured it, but it was actually nitrogen from decaying roots and nodules. The most nitrogen legumes give is when they die, and all their roots and foliage decomposes.

I’ve never been able to skip out on watering. I end up with funny looking results. I usually have to dedicate a half hour of every other morning to watering until the plants mature, then it’s factoring in the rain we get and supplementing with watering for about a schedule of every three days.

I've used the Back To Eden method, going on two years now. I dump leaves onto the garden, every fall. Now, it's the only way that I'll garden, going forward. Weeds are minimal, I don't have to water, and my soil is filled with dark brown, organic matter.

I took a huge leap and ended up covering half our lot in woodchips. Covered in fall hope for some positive usability our first year just from breaking the soil to dig since I have pretty hard clay that dries out and makes planting and surviving storms and heat difficult.

If you add raw fish scraps or bait fish to your first planting when you put seed in, it will help boost the plants until the first flowers show. My husband used this method in Texas with the "Three Sisters" system with great results.

New sub here, just liked and subbed, keep up the great work, very helpful!

Here on our farm when my garden is beginning to grow, let’s say 4 inches in height, I will keep my hair after brushing it and sprinkle it around the garden and it keeps the deer, skunks and fishers away! I do it a couple times a week at first and then that’s it... trust me when I say I have critters here at any given time I have 30-40 deer out in our fields... good luck and looking forward to seeing more videos and all the best to the Mrs

I think that's pretty cool that the raccoons got to eat the excess. Friends and family that live in the woods, hehe.

You guys should plant some bamboo someplace so you have a small forest of it for building material. You can split the bamboo canes in half and weave them in between the cedar posts to make a fence.

I looking forward to your 3 sister video as I'm hoping to apply this method to my garden soon. My big problem is my raised beds are 4x8 So I would have to dedicate 1 maybe 2 whole bed to this system which leaves only 5 beds for everything else. Great video by the way.

You can avoid the raccoons by planting the squash around the corn, they hate stepping over its leaves and branches

The squash has barbed hairs which repel the racoons. The reason the squash gets planted around the outer perimeter is to deter them and is apparently quite successful.

The last two years I’ve tried this, the squash and beans did not get enough sunlight. I like your spacing ideas- maybe I just need fewer tall things? The first year I did corn & I think I just waited too long to plant beans. This year I did sunflowers & I planted beans sooner, but the sunflowers grew so much faster! 🤷‍♀️ I like your layout suggestion. I might try that next year!

Plants some flowers around ya garden. Things with flowers need to be pollinated. I’m gearing up for the the 3 sisters this year. Good luck!!

Putting down compost was a good move .. lots of folks neglect to do so, counting on the chips alone to provide the nutrients. I've got 22 cubic feet of screened chips that are, as of right now, 4 months old .. still cooking away at 130 degrees F. When finished, they will be great compost .. but not good for plants before then!

I know the old books all say squash but in modern terms they mean long term storage pumpkins or something more along the lines of winter squash.

You do a really good job at presenting everything and explaining everything along with some little ha-ha's in between. So I have subscribed to your Channel and I'm very interested to follow you. I will say I have done my own Back to Eden already at this time and plan on planting by the end of February here in Orlando Florida. Although to my garden mix I've added mushroom compost which has to sit exposed for about 2 weeks

Electric fence with a remote switch at the house to turn on at night

You can use 2 liter plastic bottles for little green houses on plants that need help hardening.

I have a 8 foot wire fence and did not keep out the raccoons. Look forwards to what techniques you find useful for keeping the raccoons off the corn. I put a send 6 foot fence with deer netting around the corn and that seemed to help. Good luck and keep up the good work on your RU-vid channel!

Note on the three sisters method, I believe this works best when using storage varieties of these crops. So think popcorn, dry pole beans, and winter squash.

Hotwire!!! Electric fence wire is pretty cheap and really effective 😎👍

I have a question, but first, as your pinned comment says, plant closer ...the planting is slightly off kilter, it should be at the same time for the corn and bean and squash....When I have planted beans with corn, I alternate down the rows, plant at the same time..for example, corn seed, 3 inches over, beans seed, 3 inches over corn seed etc..down the rows...the corn catches up with the pole beans just as the beans are ready for some support and they do well. I have 16 inches between rows, just enough to Squish in there and harvest lol! The squash I plant in the middle as you did, but my “section” is only 36 inches across, after a lot years.now I’ve been doing this it provides the best fertilization for the corn and beans and the squash is forced to cover the ground in the field to find more light. Now a question! lol .. I’d like to know how the chips did for weed suppression? Was it better than the old hay? I’ve been using old hay, which is okay but if chips are better?

Experience tells me, it is better/safer to start seeds indoors.

A voice and timing very similar to Josh Gates from “Destination Unknown”. Thanks

There is no requirement that corn plants brush up against each other. Even if they do, that won't assure that pollen transfers from the tassels down to the silk. You need a fairly large block of plants just to assure that wind does the transfer. If you put all your stalks in a long line, most of the pollen will just blow off into the distance and never come near another plant.

I tried the 3 sister method last year. It was great...everything growing beautiful! But, then the Japanese beetles started eating the bean leaves. And, just days before the corn was ready to pick, raccoons destroyed all the corn. I was sick about it. I am going to try again. But this time....tin pie pans and lots of chili powder. Wish me luck!

Love your videos - few sug tho. You can pollinate corn yourself- pollen on hands or gloves and gently brush on all the strings they need to pollinate, maybe use medical disposable gloves. You can help pollinate everything else using a small paintbrush or pulling off the male flower to brush on the females . Also, have you ever heard of a chicken moat and using AM talk radio at night to keep out deer and predators? Deer wont jump a double fence if its four feet wide and keeps weeds at a minimum :)

the beans were planted too late since the corn stole their sunlight. Maybe plant them earlier than the corn so they get a head start or start seeds indoors and set the bean plants when you plant corn. I think the 3 sisters method uses different beans than pole beans but might be wrong.

A couple of suggestions: First, the three sisters method was developed long before sweet corn was developed. Use flint or dent corn for strong enough stalks. Second, beans only give up the nitrogen in there rhizobia nodules after they die. Plant only beans the first year and leave in place. In addition, this method does not accommodate modern squash. Use Cherokee or similar pumpkings to get this to work right.

Hi. Love your video. I had a suggestion for you 3 sister planting. Did you plant bush beans or pole beans? There is no stopping pole beans if the get into the ground in good time. They grow 6 to 8 feet tall even in our zone 3 climate. Bush beans will never grow more than 24 inches in height. Thanks again for your well made videos.