Earlier this month we showed you how to start an avocado tree right in your own kitchen. This week we're stepping it up a notch and showing you a cool trick for growing corn, peas and beans. The best part? They all grow together in one small area. If you have the room for corn, then you best plant the peas and beans too, 'cause we promise...it's really fun!
Remember our parents' garden from earlier today? They planted a few stalks of corn in an empty flower bed and threw in a couple of peas for good measure.
Following their lead, we picked up a six-pack of corn seedlings from our local nursery and a packet each of sweet peas and variety pack of pole beans. We put the peas and beans in some wet paper towels for a few hours to soften them up, then planted a small circle around the corn. The sprouts poked their little heads up in a matter of days and we've been training them around the corn as they grow. Just make sure you get the pole beans, bush varieties won't climb; the seed packets are clearly marked. Easy as pie and a real crowd pleaser!
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If you planted a squash or melon at the base you'd have "the three sisters", the classic Native American growing combo. The beans replace the nitrogen that the corn sucks out while the melon/squash covers the ground reducing water needs and keeping weeds away. It's a brilliant system.
view Sarah in Nola's profile
WOW! I wish I had known about this when I planted my corn and peas and beans and squash!
view revolution9's profile
I wonder if they grow at different rates, if the corn might rip apart the delicate peas? Well, I tried growing corn one year (in Oakland) and it only got about four feet tall; my beans and peas get up to almost twice that!
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