[Noah'strolly]

Yeah! Third year I've tried a 3 sisters bed and this time all three crops worked. Before I had squash that wouldn't spread, couldn't get at my beans and half set cobs. This year I substitiuted pumpkins for squash and spaced the sweetcorn out a bit more and I have fully germinated cobs, can get at the beans on the corn and have a rampant pumpkin patch. I'm so chuffed. 

[little sweetpeas]

well done you,

I gave in and only grew my squash around my beans. This worked well and the sweetcorn had a different variety of bean growing up them. The beans ddi well but my sweetcorn didn't. I believe as you said that I could space them out a bit more.

[Elcie]

That's great well done.  I would love to see a picture of it if possible.

[HilaryG]

My 3 sisters bed did much better than I dared hope.  I put in dwarf beans, courgettes and sweetcorn. The only annoying thing was that the beans should have been climbing ones It made picking them a bit of a mission but an amazing crop from all 3
I'll def. be doing it again.

[Swing Swang]

Well done Noah'strolly. Would love to see pictures too.

Do you feel that you would have got greater yields by growing each crop on its own patch of soil, or do you feel that this is a good method of cultivation in the UK?

I never got 3 sisters to work well, and am much happier with a 'monoculture', but would really love to read about your opinions now that they are based on experience.

[My experience - I found that bean yields were very poor, and this year powdery mildew was a real problem for the underplanted squash, but not a problem for the similar varieties planted out in the open. The corn seemed to do well when underplanted or on its own though]

Regards,

SS

[Noah'strolly]

Well, when it works you're definitely saving space and the beans are suposed to be good for the sweetcorn, fixing nitrogen into the soil.  The pumpkin took over so muck that there was no danger of getting weeds so that saved me a job.
I haven't a picky of the whole bed at the moment but this is a close up of one of the pumpkins between the sweetcorn and you can just see a little bean in flower. I've tried squash twice in my 3 sisters bed and they never took off they seem much happier climbing and rambling along a fence.