Bed 1The other of the two sisters plants is the squash. You can see it growing all around the foot of the corn. I give it three feet at the ends of beds. This space contains two squash plants spaced two feet apart. Then I train it to grow into the middle of the corn. I plant the corn and the squash on the same day. The corn is spaced a foot apart. The corn grows a bit faster and it seems to work. My only issue is when the corn doesn't sprout and I have to replant. Then the squash can overtake the corn on the edges. This is why I need a really good sprouting corn. It can't fail or I'd have to rip out my squash too and restart.
Bed 5I have two full 4'x16' beds planted up as two sisters.
Bed 7WAnd one 4'x 8' section planted up near the beans. This is 25% more space than I had last year for these crops. So I'm really hoping they do well this year. The corn certainly seems very happy. I expect I'll get a lot of frozen corn for winter. Usually I just get a few packets, but not many. Also this year I didn't space the corn plantings out very much like I usually do. I was originally planning to go to London later in August, but that trip was canceled. I tried to time it so it would all be ripe before we left. So when the corn starts to really come in this week we will be inundated for a couple of weeks then we will have nothing. Last year I had better timing and we ate sweet corn for a month or so almost every day. I think when I plan summer vacations mid July is best as I can time things better to leave a gap in production. August is a terrible time to leave.
Looks fabulous Daphne. I'm thinking for rotation purposes I might start planting sweet corn in a few raised beds. I see you space the plants 1 foot apart--is that both within rows and between rows?
ReplyDeleteYes one foot in all directions. So my 5'x4' spot has 20 plants.
DeleteI didn't have any luck with corn this year. Most of it didn't sprout and the rest is floundering. Your beds look great! Do you grow pole beans up the corn?
ReplyDeleteNo I tried that a couple of years and the beans always overwhelmed the corn. I've though about trying it again and waiting a lot longer to plant the beans.
DeleteOur corn hasn't even got cobs yet but the squash is going crazy.
ReplyDeleteThat is so pretty, with the squash growing around the corn. If I grow corn again next year I may have to give your two sisters method a try.
ReplyDeleteMy experiment with 3 Sisters two years ago was not successful, so I have been put off such combinations for a while. The theory sounds good, but everyone seems to experience problems with the timing.
ReplyDeleteThe two sister bed is so pretty, I've never grown corn, is there only one ear per plant?
ReplyDeleteI've usually had one ear per plant. I occasionally would get two, but the second one was often not very filled out and small.
DeleteI'm growing Honey Select this year too. But I'm definitely not having your luck. That last time I had a good corn crop was when I grew a three sister's garden, so I may have to do that again next year. I was hoping my late planted corn was going to do better because the ears looked bigger, but now it seems the earworms have gotten them.
ReplyDeletehi daphne, just a quick comment on how much i have enjoyed your blog. every morning i open up your blog first. it is so full of fantastic information (just like granny's was - so sad i miss her blog). thank you once again for keeping your site up to date and interesting. awesome effort. Jill
ReplyDeleteI am envious of your corn! We go down to the European Farmers Market near us and get ours to eat. Nancy
ReplyDeleteI think it's interesting to see how other people grow their squash in raised beds/rows. It seems like a lot of people go for the bush varieties or use vertical support. Our rows are only 30" wide so I figured that those would be my only options when I eventually decide to try winter squash. However, my cucumbers have crawled more than climbed without much trouble, and you make your squash vines look manageable.
ReplyDeleteYour husband must be so happy :) I remember how much he loves freshly grown corn. I don't have much luck growing corn. I only have 6 plants that germinated and they are still pretty small.
ReplyDeleteI have always avoided vining winter squash because of space. But your two sisters method seems like a winner & it is definitely on my must try list.
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