The first core crop we identified, was corn. Who doesn't love some sweet corn on the cob?! Even though corn can be hard to grow effectively, we are going to do so in our garden. Incidentally, Companion Planting dates back thousands of years with the Three Sisters method employed by the Native American tribes, being the most famous example of all.
As I mentioned earlier, we are going to substitute squash in our plan because my family aren't squash eaters and one of our Golden Rules state that we only plant what we eat. For this reason, we sought an alternative to squash and settled on carrots. Carrots go well with many crops. For that reason, we will be employing them throughout our garden as a secondary crop rather than dedicating a soil bed to them as a primary crop. The recommended minimum separation between corn stalks is stated as 12". In our SFG type setup, that means that we'll be able to grow 48 corn plants per soil bed. Considering a growing season of 180 days in Indianapolis, and a Days to Maturity (DTM) value of 75 days for our chosen variety, we should be able to get two crops in a season. On average, you'll get about 1.3 ears of corn per plant, but for simplicity sake, it's safe to assume one ear per plant. That's not a great yield for the area employed. Our chosen variety states that you can sow 2 seeds per foot. If take a closer look at the Wampanoag Three Sisters Corn and Bean Mound, we also notice that the spread between the 4 seeds is 6". Keeping that in mind, I designed our plan as follows:
The yellow triangles are corn. The green circles are pole beans while the orange triangles are carrots. Each little square in the background grid represents 1/2". If we place the corn on the north, east, south and west axis with it's 6" separation between north and south as well as east and west, then the pole beans would will out the corners of that square. Given the little space (2") needed by carrots, we stagger them around the outside of the square foot, offset between the beans and the corn.
As the corn grows, it's roots should fill out the center area while it is kept strong on the outside of the circle by the pole beans as they vine up the corn stalks. The carrots provide the ground cover with it's greenery shading out weeds.
Using this plan we should get the following yield from our garden.
Pole beans, 65 days to maturity, row planted at 6" intervals, yield 60 lbs / 100' row. At 6" intervals, there would be 2 plants per feet of row. Since we are using intensive gardening techniques, we actually have 4 plants per square foot. We are also calculating two crops for the season in alignment with the corn crops. Thus:
2 crops X 2 rows per square ft X 0.6 lbs/ft X 96 square feet = 230.4 lbs of beans.
Sweet Corn, 75 days to maturity, row planted at 12" intervals, yield 130 ears / 100' row. Using the Wampanoag method, we can plant 4 plants per square foot thus:
2 crops X 4 plants per square ft X 1.3 ears/ft X 96 square feet = 998.4 ears of corn.
Though that may sound like a lot, it's the most optimistic outcome. This is also the entire year's crop total. Yield may be far less than expected, but if it isn't, we'll have plenty to share with family, friends and neighbors. :-)
Carrots, 56 days to maturity, could potentially yield 3 crops in our 180 growing season, but because we are planting them in support of the corn and beans, we'll only do 2 crops in sync with the other two. Considering a 2.5 ounce average weight for the carrots, yield would be thus:
2 crops X 12 plants per square ft X 2.5 ounces (0.15625 lbs) X 96 square feet = 360 lbs of carrots.
Seeds required for the two beds:
Corn - 96 X 4 X 2 = 768 @ 150 seeds/pack = 5 packs X $3.95 = $19.75
Beans - 48 X 4 X 2 = 384 @ 50 seeds/pack = 8 packs X $3.95 = $31.60
Soybeans - 48 X 4 X 2 = 384 @ 100 seeds/pack = 4 packs X $3.95 = $15.80
Carrots - 96 X 12 X 2 = 2304 @ 250 seeds/pack = 10 packs X $3.95 = $39.50
Now we need to determine the planting dates for these. The corn seed needs to be sown when the soil is 65F at 1 1/2". Carrots can be sown when soil is 56F at 1/2". Since we're sowing the carrots with the corn, the more shallow soil temperature will be much higher than the minimum. Soybeans and beans can be sown when the soil is 65F at 1". Again, when sowing with the corn, the shallower soil will be warmer than the minimum. Planting dates now have to be determined. Given that the DTM for our variety of corn is 75 days and considering that we have a 180 day growing season, we can easily fit two full crop cycles into our growing season. If your growing season is shorter, something like 140 days, you might consider starting the corn seedlings inside. Seedling starting and transplanting of corn is generally not recommended, but it can be done with a little care. Since we don't have to worry about seed starting for the corn, we'll simply plan the planting times for the other seeds in our soil bed.
We start by determining the optimal time to plant our corn. According to the Old Farmer's Almanac Planting Dates by Zip Code page, my best time for planting corn is April 17th through May 1st. Just enter your zip code on that page and click "Search" to find your dates. Looking at the calendar, April 17th falls on a Thursday. At this point you may be tempted to plan on planting all the corn on that Saturday, the 19th. I would not recommend that. One of the key components of sustainability is... well... a sustained crop yield over time. Remember, we're not commercial farmers who want all the corn to ripen at the same time. On the contrary, we want it to ripen in phases so that we can eat it over time.
Given my growing season, and the corn's DTM, I have 30 days leeway to play with so we'll spread our planting out over 30 days. Since we have 96 squares to plant, I can do 3 squares per day, however, seeing as the dimensions of the beds are 12' x 4' it makes most sense to just do an entire column (the 4' slice) per day. That way, we'll have 4 squares ready for harvest each day once they mature. We'll continue to harvest and immediately replant the square for the second crop, for a period of 24 days. We can continue to eat corn kept in storage during the 51 days between the final picking of the first crop and the first picking of the second crop. I have found the best way to plan this kind of activity is simply to add it to my calendar. Once you've completed the corn schedule, do the same for beans and carrots, adding the difference in DTM to the corn square's plant date to get the plant date for the other two. For example, since the first row is planted on April 17th, we know that there's a 10 day difference in DTM (75-65) between the corn and the beans. We add 10 days to the date and we know that we have to plant that row with beans on April 27th. In the same way, we know there's 9 days difference between the beans and the carrots' DTM so by adding 9 days to April 27th, we know we need to plant the carrots for that row on May 6th. Fill out the calendar accordingly to complete your planting schedule.
By planning a staggering of the planting dates between the different crops, we have a single harvest date for the entire square. It also allows the corn some time for a head start before the beans start to vine up the stalks. I'm not sure if it would be better to stagger the harvest date instead. It certainly would allow more soil space for the other crops as some are harvested, but we'll try it this way this year and see how it goes.
The yellow triangles are corn. The green circles are pole beans while the orange triangles are carrots. Each little square in the background grid represents 1/2". If we place the corn on the north, east, south and west axis with it's 6" separation between north and south as well as east and west, then the pole beans would will out the corners of that square. Given the little space (2") needed by carrots, we stagger them around the outside of the square foot, offset between the beans and the corn.
As the corn grows, it's roots should fill out the center area while it is kept strong on the outside of the circle by the pole beans as they vine up the corn stalks. The carrots provide the ground cover with it's greenery shading out weeds.
Using this plan we should get the following yield from our garden.
Pole beans, 65 days to maturity, row planted at 6" intervals, yield 60 lbs / 100' row. At 6" intervals, there would be 2 plants per feet of row. Since we are using intensive gardening techniques, we actually have 4 plants per square foot. We are also calculating two crops for the season in alignment with the corn crops. Thus:
2 crops X 2 rows per square ft X 0.6 lbs/ft X 96 square feet = 230.4 lbs of beans.
Sweet Corn, 75 days to maturity, row planted at 12" intervals, yield 130 ears / 100' row. Using the Wampanoag method, we can plant 4 plants per square foot thus:
2 crops X 4 plants per square ft X 1.3 ears/ft X 96 square feet = 998.4 ears of corn.
Though that may sound like a lot, it's the most optimistic outcome. This is also the entire year's crop total. Yield may be far less than expected, but if it isn't, we'll have plenty to share with family, friends and neighbors. :-)
Carrots, 56 days to maturity, could potentially yield 3 crops in our 180 growing season, but because we are planting them in support of the corn and beans, we'll only do 2 crops in sync with the other two. Considering a 2.5 ounce average weight for the carrots, yield would be thus:
2 crops X 12 plants per square ft X 2.5 ounces (0.15625 lbs) X 96 square feet = 360 lbs of carrots.
Seeds required for the two beds:
Corn - 96 X 4 X 2 = 768 @ 150 seeds/pack = 5 packs X $3.95 = $19.75
Beans - 48 X 4 X 2 = 384 @ 50 seeds/pack = 8 packs X $3.95 = $31.60
Soybeans - 48 X 4 X 2 = 384 @ 100 seeds/pack = 4 packs X $3.95 = $15.80
Carrots - 96 X 12 X 2 = 2304 @ 250 seeds/pack = 10 packs X $3.95 = $39.50
Now we need to determine the planting dates for these. The corn seed needs to be sown when the soil is 65F at 1 1/2". Carrots can be sown when soil is 56F at 1/2". Since we're sowing the carrots with the corn, the more shallow soil temperature will be much higher than the minimum. Soybeans and beans can be sown when the soil is 65F at 1". Again, when sowing with the corn, the shallower soil will be warmer than the minimum. Planting dates now have to be determined. Given that the DTM for our variety of corn is 75 days and considering that we have a 180 day growing season, we can easily fit two full crop cycles into our growing season. If your growing season is shorter, something like 140 days, you might consider starting the corn seedlings inside. Seedling starting and transplanting of corn is generally not recommended, but it can be done with a little care. Since we don't have to worry about seed starting for the corn, we'll simply plan the planting times for the other seeds in our soil bed.
We start by determining the optimal time to plant our corn. According to the Old Farmer's Almanac Planting Dates by Zip Code page, my best time for planting corn is April 17th through May 1st. Just enter your zip code on that page and click "Search" to find your dates. Looking at the calendar, April 17th falls on a Thursday. At this point you may be tempted to plan on planting all the corn on that Saturday, the 19th. I would not recommend that. One of the key components of sustainability is... well... a sustained crop yield over time. Remember, we're not commercial farmers who want all the corn to ripen at the same time. On the contrary, we want it to ripen in phases so that we can eat it over time.
Given my growing season, and the corn's DTM, I have 30 days leeway to play with so we'll spread our planting out over 30 days. Since we have 96 squares to plant, I can do 3 squares per day, however, seeing as the dimensions of the beds are 12' x 4' it makes most sense to just do an entire column (the 4' slice) per day. That way, we'll have 4 squares ready for harvest each day once they mature. We'll continue to harvest and immediately replant the square for the second crop, for a period of 24 days. We can continue to eat corn kept in storage during the 51 days between the final picking of the first crop and the first picking of the second crop. I have found the best way to plan this kind of activity is simply to add it to my calendar. Once you've completed the corn schedule, do the same for beans and carrots, adding the difference in DTM to the corn square's plant date to get the plant date for the other two. For example, since the first row is planted on April 17th, we know that there's a 10 day difference in DTM (75-65) between the corn and the beans. We add 10 days to the date and we know that we have to plant that row with beans on April 27th. In the same way, we know there's 9 days difference between the beans and the carrots' DTM so by adding 9 days to April 27th, we know we need to plant the carrots for that row on May 6th. Fill out the calendar accordingly to complete your planting schedule.
By planning a staggering of the planting dates between the different crops, we have a single harvest date for the entire square. It also allows the corn some time for a head start before the beans start to vine up the stalks. I'm not sure if it would be better to stagger the harvest date instead. It certainly would allow more soil space for the other crops as some are harvested, but we'll try it this way this year and see how it goes.
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