In recognition of the holiday at hand (Thanksgiving), I wanted to share an interesting little e-book. Squanto's Garden is filling my head with ideas about the concept of a "three sisters"companion planting that I am finally going to try out next year.
In order to get the book, you have to give your email address (and then it is free) but I can attest, I got the book months ago and I have never received another email from these people and I haven't been spammed to oblivion (so I think it is safe).
If you are un-familiar with Squanto's 'three sisters' garden; it is a planting method by which you grow three nutritional staples — corn, beans and squash. Grown together, the corn provides a natural pole for bean vines to climb. The beans fix nitrogen, improving the soil's fertility and helping stabilize the corn plants. And the squash vines keep down the weeds, act as a mulch, and their spiny texture discourages predators from the corn and beans. At the end of the season, the remaining plants can be turned back into the soil to build up organic matter and improve soil structure.
Many of the Native American tribes had their own version of this basic combo and the e-book has many plans from each tribe. 
In these images from the book, you can see the Zuni Waffle Garden, the Wampanoag Garden, and the Hidatsa Garden.
Have you grown a three sisters garden that you will feast from this Thanksgiving?
Full Disclosure: I think the little book is actually a marketing tool for protogrow...but it is still worth checking out - and as I said, they have never bothered me to buy anything or or filled my inbox with junk.
MORE INFO: Squanto's Garden
Have a Happy Thanksgiving!
Images: University of Houston, First Thanksgiving Garden.
The Roeders' Modern Life is Beautiful 
How To Keep Your Bathroom Clean In 5 Minutes A Day
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Shopping for Ice Cream Makers: 5 Models We've Reviewed
How to Cook Moist & Tender Chicken Breasts Every Time
Comments (4)
Intriguing. I remember learning about this in grade school, but I haven't thought of it since.
Though, in my Minnesota childhood, farmers often hid melon and pumpkin patches in the middle of cornfields, so they wouldn't get robbed. It didn't always work, and I can attest that stolen watermelons are the sweetest of all.
I experimented with this system on a 1/8 acre garden plot. It did not work out well. It was a difficult system to weed (not wanting to tread on the squash tendrils). The squash vines did not keep down the weeds. The weeds also used the vertical growth of the corn to overwhelm the beans--compromising both the squash and bean harvest. We used traditional corn varieties from Seed Savers and I believe we yielded 10-12 sad-looking ears from the entire plot. I thought this was such a terrific idea when we started out, but it was an unqualified failure. I am very interested to hear how it turns out for you. Perhaps there are management or spacing issues that provide remediation to these problems. Keep us posted.
"I got the book months ago and I have never received another email from these people"
Getting this book automatically subscribed me to Off the Grid News. The "newsletter" had NOTHING to do with off-the-grid living but was a sales pitch about some heart medication or something (I didn't read enough to find out what exactly it was).
UGH!
In response to Purr Pill's suggestions, I balk at the idea that in order to make a garden system work I have to buy bagged soil or compost. I need a system that works with the perfectly good soil I already have and the compost (which most certainly has weed seeds) I get from my farm animals and kitchen scraps.