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Native North American Agriculture
(Thursday, 03 July 2008) Written by greeniac121212
I have long been interested in Native North American agricultural techniques. In one of my courses at college, we studied Three Sisters gardens, which are an intercrop of corn, beans, and squash. "Intercropping" is when two or more crops are planted together in the same field during the same season. "Overyielding" is when the land's yield is greater in an intercrop than it would be if the land were planted with any one of the crops alone (a monocrop). Three Sisters gardens are known for overyielding, which indicates that corn, bean and squash plants have mutually beneficial effects on one another.

How do these plants help each other? Well, they actually do so in a variety of ways. The corn provides a strong stalk, and the beans are able to climb up this stalk and gain good access to the sun. The squash plant has broad leaves which spread all over the ground, blocking the sun that weeds need to survive. Thus, the squash plants "shade out" weeds, which benefits all three of the crops. The bean is a legume, which means it is in the same family as crops such as lentils, peas, etc. All legumes have root nodules which contain nitrogen-fixing bacteria, so legumes contribute nitrogen to the soil over the long term, which is good for all three of the crops.

In addition to developing the idea of planting these three "sisters" together, Native Americans also came up with several other techniques that keep Three Sisters gardens productive. For example, they plant the corn in mounds, which give the soil good drainage and allows the soil to warm up quickly, due to increased surface area.

I call these pieces of cultivated land "gardens," but, in truth, Native Americans planted entire fields in this way, acres upon acres of productive, overyielding farms. The mental image this calls to mind is so different from what I picture when I think of how corn is grow in the United States, in huge, unsustainable monocrops that cover much of the Midwest.

People are still planting Three Sisters gardens today, and you can too! I've done it before, and the gardens are extremely productive and beautiful. It is also interesting to read up on the Native American stories about corn, because corn and humans are seen to have a very intimate relationship. Like for humans, there is a missing link in the evolution of corn! Corn is actually the only staple crop whose evolutionary path has not been directly identified. Because they see the lack of a direct ancestor, some Native peoples believe that corn was given to humans by the Great Spirit.

If you want to learn more about Three Sisters gardens and other forms of traditional agriculture, I recommend the book, Native American Gardening: Stories, Projects and Recipes for Families, by Michael J. Caduto and Joseph Bruchac.
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