I sowed the seeds for this crop of corn in April and May earlier this year. I started this project to do something with the space that I had and also to try growing a three sisters garden. I had been interested in growing one of these gardens for a while now and was looking for a way to reconnect with the land and get a sense for what our ancestors were familiar with.
To start, I drew up a small project plan with a timeline and goals. I took some materials from Native Seeds/SEARCH and ordered seeds from them, as well as bought some from The Home Depot. There are a few ways to sow the corn, beans, and squash. I chose the mound method as it seemed like the most ancient way of sowing. The idea is that the beans will climb up the cornstalks and the squash will make a natural fence around the rest of the plants to keep out racoons and thieves.
What ended up happening was that the beans grew too heavy on the cornstalks and eventually brought them down. Fortunately, the corn was ready to be harvested before the beans became a problem.
These took 4-5 months to mature. The next steps will be to hang them to dry on twine and then to grind them for cornmeal. Eventually these will become cornbread or popcorn. The two species you see here are Hopi Azul and Glass Gem.