Companion planting
The Three Sisters garden.
Corn, beans, and squash grown together — each one earns its place. Corn gives the beans a pole to climb, the beans feed the soil, and the squash keeps it cool and weed-free. Step in and walk the field below.
Why the three work together
Grows tall first and becomes the trellis the beans climb, so you never buy or build a stake.
Fix nitrogen from the air into the soil, feeding the corn and squash that sit beside them.
Sprawls across the ground, shading the soil to hold moisture and smother weeds.
How to plant it
- 1
Plant the corn first
Once the soil is warm, sow corn in a block rather than a single row so it pollinates well. Let it reach about knee height before you add the beans, so the stalks are strong enough to climb.
- 2
Add the climbing beans
Sow pole beans at the base of each established stalk. The corn becomes a living trellis, and the beans pull nitrogen out of the air and into the soil for the heavy-feeding corn.
- 3
Fill the gaps with squash
Sow squash between the mounds. Its broad leaves shade the soil, hold moisture, and crowd out weeds, so the whole bed needs less watering and weeding.
Evengrow lays out beds like this for you — spacing, timing, and the day-to-day tasks for every planting.
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