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Re: Why do you "hill" when you plant the 3 sisters method?

Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html

A hilll or mound is a sort of mini-raised bed, with all the advantages that
implies....

Corn, beans and squash/pumpkins are all warm weather crops, so the extra
heat that a slight mound collects is useful to them....

(Peas, OTOH, are a cool season crop---legumes, such as peas and beans, fix
nitrogen in their roots via association with Rhizobium bacteria, which form
nodules that you can see---this means the peas/beans are not pulling the
nitrogen the corn/squash needs, I think, and not so much that they actually
provide lots of N to the others...Peas in need of support will not have it
in time from the corn, because they are so early, whereas pole beans,
planted a couple of weeks or so after the corn, will be supported by
it....those are my thoughts on the peas and cues of 3 sisters and why peas
aren't a sister and pole beans are...)

This year, I am experimenting with planting into compost placed over  my
mulched garden soil, where I grew 12 foot high Bloody Butcher corn last
year....this corn was not hilled, the soil was not tilled, and the stalks
were strong and wind resistant....

Untilled soil has greater soil strength, and when it is enriched and alive
with organic matter and the things that eat it, like earthworms, there are
ample spaces in the strong soil for the roots to go deep and find the plants
needs in nutrients, water and anchorage.

A tilled soil is weaker and the blowing over problem in a tilled soil may
require hilling for added strength.

So my hills wil be compost of a couple inches, over an untilled worm rich
strong clay soil, and I will not add anything to protect the corn from
wind....

I'll let everybody know how this turns out---so far the peas, spinach and
mesclun are happy...

Frank---thinks the little mound is a warmer upper for the three sisters
chilly toes, which peas like but beans, corn and squashes don't......
-----Original Message-----
From: JC Dill <garden@vo.cnchost.com>
To: sqft@listbot.com <sqft@listbot.com>
Date: Thursday, May 13, 1999 3:59 AM
Subject: Why do you "hill" when you plant the 3 sisters method?


>Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html
>
>I like the 3 sisters idea and want to plant my corn and beans ASAP.  But I
>was wondering what the purpose of the "hill" is.  It would seem to me that
>if anything, you would want to plant the corn in a hole and then fill it in
>as it grows to help support the stalks with extra dirt around the base to
>keep them from tipping in the wind.
>
>So what benefit do you get, exactly, from planting in a hill?  Is it the
>water catching benefits of the gullies between the hills?  Is this a method
>that works best in an area where you do a lot of flood irrigation?
>
>TIA
>
>jc
>
>
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