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General Homesteading thread

UR20Z said:
I know that there's long-standing advice to plant corn and beans together so that the beans can climb up the corn, but who's the third sister? Squash?
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Supposedly the thorns on squash keep corn worms away. And the three use different nutrients so they do not deplete the soil. But everything I read, it is nominal benefits
 
sarahsingletono98 said:
Supposedly the thorns on squash keep corn worms away. And the three use different nutrients so they do not deplete the soil. But everything I read, it is nominal benefits
Click to expand...
Re: deterring the worms, which I'm familiar with by the name "corn borers" - Sounds reasonably good in theory, but since the moth they turn into lays its eggs directly on the silk of the new cobs, I doubt there's much benefit from the squash-stickers. The beans make good sense, though - they're nitrogen fixers, and corn is ungodly nitrogen-hungry, so I can't see any way the idea could hurt at all. Just went looking for "three sisters planting", and the one I clicked on from the results seems to be saying that the squash primarily intended to be a shade/cover crop to help with soil water retention, and as a bonus, produces useful fruits. Makes sense - if they don't do the "daily wilt" thing that I've seen being pretty much the norm here in this area - On the hot, sunny days, between about 3 and 6PM, give or take an hour, unless we run the sprinkler on 'em, squash and pumpkins wilt so bad it looks like somebody came through with a flamethrower and "lightly toasted" them. After about 6 or so, when the heat of the day has passed, they start to come back, and by morning, they're good as new, but then about 203, they start wilting again. First time I saw it for myself, I was sure the entire crop was dead, the wilt was so bad.
 
UR20Z said:
Re: deterring the worms, which I'm familiar with by the name "corn borers" - Sounds reasonably good in theory, but since the moth they turn into lays its eggs directly on the silk of the new cobs, I doubt there's much benefit from the squash-stickers. The beans make good sense, though - they're nitrogen fixers, and corn is ungodly nitrogen-hungry, so I can't see any way the idea could hurt at all. Just went looking for "three sisters planting", and the one I clicked on from the results seems to be saying that the squash primarily intended to be a shade/cover crop to help with soil water retention, and as a bonus, produces useful fruits. Makes sense - if they don't do the "daily wilt" thing that I've seen being pretty much the norm here in this area - On the hot, sunny days, between about 3 and 6PM, give or take an hour, unless we run the sprinkler on 'em, squash and pumpkins wilt so bad it looks like somebody came through with a flamethrower and "lightly toasted" them. After about 6 or so, when the heat of the day has passed, they start to come back, and by morning, they're good as new, but then about 203, they start wilting again. First time I saw it for myself, I was sure the entire crop was dead, the wilt was so bad.
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two other good combo I have been reading is tomatoes carrots and basil.
Peppers, peanuts and okra
 
sarahsingletono98 said:
two other good combo I have been reading is tomatoes carrots and basil.
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I wonder if the idea is the basli acting as anti-bug for the tomatoes and carrots?

sarahsingletono98 said:
Peppers, peanuts and okra
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That combo is impossible here - Not enough growing season for peanuts to even get 'em to start to set, and I'm told that Okra is nearly impossible to get to ripen in this area 'cause it's not hot enough for long enough to trigger the process.
 
UR20Z said:
I wonder if the idea is the basli acting as anti-bug for the tomatoes and carrots?


That combo is impossible here - Not enough growing season for peanuts to even get 'em to start to set, and I'm told that Okra is nearly impossible to get to ripen in this area 'cause it's not hot enough for long enough to trigger the process.
Click to expand...
Carrots are sacrificiAl. They attract the hornworms, making easy to detect them. Sometimes you get some carrots if you stay on top of it, basil attracts ladybugs to eat aphids off the tomatoes. And the scent throws of leaf footed bugs
 
UR20Z said:
I know that there's long-standing advice to plant corn and beans together so that the beans can climb up the corn, but who's the third sister? Squash?
Click to expand...
Last I heard it was melons of a sort. Or squash I believe. I don’t remember but it probably be a beneficial party I’m sure.
 
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