Organic Forest Plants & More

Three Sisters Gardening

Heirloom Seeds

The three sisters are corn, beans and squash. Our Three Sisters gardening kit comes with all heirloom, non-genetically modified variety seeds: Country Gentleman corn, beans and butternut squash.

They are seen as the three beautiful sisters because they grow in the same mound in the garden.

The Corn provides a ladder for the Bean Vine and together give shade to the Squash. The squash helps keep small animals such as rabbits out of the garden - they don't like the prickly vines.

The  story of the Three Sisters vary from Native American tribe to tribe.

The story below is taken from an oral account by Lois Thomas of Cornwall Island, compiled by students at Centennial College and found in "Indian Legends of Eastern Canada."

A long time ago there were three sisters who lived together in a field.

These sisters were quite different from one another in their size and way of dressing. The little sister was so young that she could only crawl at first, and she was dressed in green.

The second sister wore a bright yellow dress, and she had a way of running off by herself when the sun shone and the soft wind blew in her face.

The third was the eldest sister, standing always very straight and tall above the other sisters and trying to protect them. She wore a pale green shawl, and she had long, yellow hair that tossed about her head in the breeze.

There was one way the sisters were all alike, though. They loved each other dearly, and they always stayed together. This made them very strong.

One day a stranger came to the field of the Three Sisters - a Mohawk boy. He talked to the birds and other animals - this caught the attention of the three sisters.

Late that summer, the youngest and smallest sister disappeared. Her sisters were sad.

Again the Mohawk boy came to the field to gather reeds at the water's edge. The two sisters who were left watched his moccasin trail, and that night the second sister - the one in the yellow dress - disappeared as well.

Now the Elder Sister was the only one left.

She continued to stand tall in her field. When the Mohawk boy saw that she missed her sisters, he brought them all back together and they became stronger together, again.