My little sister lives a zip code or two away. She teaches elementary school and last year she decided to plant a garden. She studied up, decided what she needed to do to make a small strip of soil work for her.
When she told me she was putting in a vegetable garden, I wondered how and where. She lives in a regular neighborhood. Yards aren’t that big there. And in the back she has both a garage AND an in-ground pool. And that pool is the centerpiece for a lot since she’s got kids! Some how, she hit a great formula last year. She’s made some minor modifications this year, but things are looking good.
She has some things in the ground blooming, others about ready to transplant and still others to start. I love that she had so many things off & on all summer! And I’m hoping she’s really successful again. Here’s some of what she’s done:
- She’s got the beds on a grid to use as she lays out things.
- The bulk of the vining plants are in the back & she has mesh for them to climb.
- Companion plants are there — plants that help the others or use others including the three sisters. (Yes, there are three girls — so my brother has three sisters!)
- Spread planting dates to spread out when things are ready to harvest.
- Raised some beds to plant in a box.
- She’s willing to try new stuff just cause — her favorite plant is an artichoke, she’s never grown that before! It’s leaves are really funky.
I get to moderate #foodchat tomorrow night talking about producing food at home. Hope some of these kinds of topics are among the DMs people are sending me at the @foodchat account! If you are on twitter, use tweetchat and the #foodchat search term. For those who want to watch but aren’t on twitter, go here.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwzDah92t7g]
Love it!
Thanks for linking to your blog — that’s a great resource since you posted your pics there!
Everyone this is my little sis — click on her name & you can see her blog.
I have three sisters in my life, but not in my garden. I’m intrigued by the idea, but when our corn patch is 25′ x 80′ I’m not sure how it would work. I bet it works in smaller plots really well though.
Thanks for writing about our baby sister’s garden.
You are welcome. Chuk has a bigger garden & he uses the three sisters concept in his place too. In fact, I think he’s the one who introduced it to me. Not sure if Leslie picked it up there or somewhere else.
Yeah, I have learned, and taught, the Three Sisters Legend in school through our social studies and outdoor classroom programs, but Chuk is the first person I personally know who does it.