[Terrapreta] Three Sisters

[code suidae]

It is curious to check my email and find a message so directly related
to something I've just done over the weekend. Since the threat of
freezing has past now and since I had some free time, I planted a
little corn this weekend (36 plants). It is in a three sisters
configuration as used by the native American population that inhabited
this area. I've also prepared some some soil with pulverized char for
a second crop, which will go in in a few weeks (so I'll have fresh
corn at different times through the season).

This is sweet corn, so I won't be processing it with lye water as you
described, although I am aware of and intend to attempt that at some
point, perhaps next year I will find some more native corn types to
experiment with.

I've found a few pages related to the three sisters that provide some
more details about the methods developed by the native American
population. One described a circular plot about 10 feet in diameter
with a number of mounds (8?) into which the corn, beans and squash
were planted. Sunflowers could be planted along the north edge of the
plot where they would not shade the other plants.

Unfortunately I have been unable to find that page again, which is
unfortunate, it had what appeared to be a fairly complete set of
documentation about the historical practices.

Dave
--
"Our ignorance is not so vast as our failure to use what we know." -
M. King Hubbert

On Sun, Apr 20, 2008 at 7:56 PM, Jeff Davis <jeff0124 at velocity.net> wrote:
>
>  <http://www.uwlax.edu/MVAC/Research/ThreeSisters.htm>
>
>  Snip:
>  "Merlin Red Cloud Jr. provided a recipe for processing corn that
>  involved several interesting treatments of corn.  Of most significance
>  was the addition of wood ash when boiling shelled corn, creating hominy.