Companion planting: Three sisters & five sisters crops planting in Africa

 

Companion Planting: Three sisters and five sisters planting in Sub-Sahara Africa

Companion planting

Have you ever wondered why some crops produce more when planted together with certain plants? Just visualize a rural organic farmland with maize, beans and cocoyam (Ibo coco) planted together! The tons of harvest from this mixed farming will leave you puzzling. Yes, our ancestors farmed and harvested tons of food without any chemical input. And I wonder what happens now. The chemicals we keep applying in our farms have been polluting the soil, killing soil organisms, destroying our ecosystems and affecting our health. It is time we begin to understand the beneficial synergy between different plants so we can increase yield, control pests and diseases without applying external chemicals into our farmlands. Welcome to the world of companion planting.

Companion planting

Have you ever wondered why some crops produce more when planted together with certain plants? Just visualize rural organic farmland with maize, beans, and cocoyam (Ibo coco) planted together! The tons of harvest from this mixed farming will leave you puzzling. Yes, our ancestors farmed and harvested tons of food without any chemical input. And I wonder what happens now. The chemicals we keep applying in our farms have been polluting the soil, killing soil organisms, destroying our ecosystems and affecting our health. It is time we begin to understand the beneficial synergy between different plants so we can increase yield, control pests and diseases without applying external chemicals into our farmlands. Welcome to the world of companion planting.

So what really is companion planting?

Companion planting is the practice of growing different plants together so they can benefit from each other. Certain combinations of plants make each of them more productive. Why? Because some plants have a mutually beneficial relationship with complementary characteristics such as nutrient requirements, natural support, weed suppression, pest-repelling abilities amongst others.

A typical example of companion planting is the famous Three Sisters crop -where maize, beans and pumpkin or squash are planted together. This has been done in Sub-Sahara Africa for millennia. Today it is still the usual traditional practice within rural communities’ farmland in the tropics. These plants do complement each other and each of them does benefit from the union as they grow symbiotically to deter weeds and pests, enrich the soil fertility and support each other.

•         The tall corn provides support to the climbing beans, you can use any variety of corn – soft, pop, white, yellow, etc...
•        The fast-growing beans convert atmospheric nitrogen to soil nitrogen which fertilizes all the plants especially corn which requires a large quantity of nutrients. The beans also help to stabilize the maize during heavy wind.
•         The squash or pumpkin grows low and wide around the corn and beans. It shades the soil to prevent moisture loss. Its big leaves also suppress weeds and control pests and insects.  Bingo! 
•     What a wonderfully beneficial relationship. Please like comment and subscribe while we share information on how to plant the three sisters

How do we plant the three (3) sisters?

Note: In sub-Sahara Africa they are two planting seasons starting in March and September. So make sure you plant at the right time

• 1     Choose a sunny location with at least 6 hours of full sunlight every day
• 2     Clear the farm around January and allow the grass/shrub to dry and decompose for about 6-8 weeks before tillage.
• 3     Make sure you start tilling at the beginning of the planting season.
• 4     Fold the dried and decayed grass/shrubs in the middle of the furrow.
• 5    Prepare the soil with much organic matter, composted animal/farm manure and wood ash.
• 6     Hoe the soil on both sides of the furrow to cover up the decayed grass/shrub within the bed.
• 7     Make a bed about 0.5m wide, 20cm high and 4m long.  Inter-bed distance should be about 50cm.
• 8     Cut the pumpkin or squash open, remove the seeds and spread to dry under shade for 2 days. Get your maize seeds ready for planting.
• 9    Then plant your maize – 3 seeds per spot, 1m apart. Then plants 2 seeds of pumpkin between the maize.
• 10.  About 10 days later, you plant your beans, 2 seeds close to the corn.
• 11 Sit, relax and watch the 3 sisters do the magic. Nature has it all. 

 The three sisters provide both sustainable soil fertility as well as a healthy organic balanced diet. Experience has shown that the concept of 3 sisters crop can include even up to 4 or 5 crops. For the purpose of increasing food yield on a small piece of land, I will showcase how to plant up to 5 complimentary crops on raised beds in a planting season. For this, we shall be adding amaranth (Greens) and Cocoyam. This mixed planting increases biodiversity which attracts pollinators to enhance flowering, fruiting and food production.

Amaranth

·        The fourth sister (Amaranth – Greens) is included because it attracts pollinators, lures birds away from eating the maize and is also very nutritional. More pollinators imply more fruits and more yield.

Growing cocoyam

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Then the fifth sister which is cocoyam (ibo coco) is a staple food in sub-Sahara Africa and grows for about 5 months before harvesting tubers for food. So it will be the last crop to harvest before we prepare the soil again for the next planting season. It helps to control pests and suppresses weed.

 How to plant five (5) sister crops on raised beds in the tropics

• Make a bed about 1m wide, 30cm high (flat top and 4-6m long. Inter-bed distance should be at least 50cm.
• Cover your cocoyam on a dark wet area to sprout into seedlings
• Plant your cocoyam seedlings 20cm deep and 1m apart on both sides of the beds.
•  Plant your maize – 3 seeds between the planted cocoyam.
• Then plant 2 pumpkin seeds in a spot about 20cm close to the cocoyam
• Sparingly broadcast your amaranth seeds on the beds and level the bed by racking so some seeds are lightly covered.

• After 10 -14 days  you plant your beans 2 seeds just 10cm close to the maize 
• The seeds used for this type of sisters cropping should be organic seeds
• Direct the beans vines towards the nearest cornstalk as they grow. This allows it to climb upwards, rather than creep along the ground.
• Hoe as many beds as you can and weed regularly

1     Harvested in succession

1.     Amaranth can be harvested 7 weeks after planting. Use a sharp knife to cut the soft stem, leaving 2-3 nodes underneath for new shoots. You can harvest weekly for the next 2 months before it starts flowering.

2.     Pumpkin/squash soft stems and leaves can be harvested from the 8th week after planting. They spread out fast once the first meristematic tip is cut off. Harvesting too can continue for the next 3 months before fruiting. Don’t harvest too much if you are interested more in the pumpkin/squash fruits.

3.     The beans start flowering just 10 weeks after planting. Harvesting commences from the 14 weeks when the beans are matured for harvesting. This may continue for another 2 months.

4.     The maize is ready in about 16 weeks. After harvesting the maize, leave the stalk to dry up for another 2 weeks so you can continue harvesting the beans. After this, the production of the beans begins to reduce, then you cut the stalk to mulch the cocoyam and add some soil on the bed so the cocoyam can produce bigger tubers.

5.     At the end of 22 weeks, you start harvesting the cocoyam and pumpkin fruits. Get ready for another planting season starting in September.

Thinking time

Climate change has led to an increase in temperature which has resulted to drought that is negatively affecting crops production, especially in sub-Saharan Africa.

Question: What could you easily add as the 6^th sister crop to remedy this situation?  Explain your reasons… 2min to think and write your ideas below in the comment.

Watch the video on companion planting of our three or five sister groups here

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Continuous selective harvesting of soft stem vegetables to increase yield, reduce cost and labour

 

Continuous selective harvesting of soft stem vegetables to increase yield, maximize land use, reduce input cost and labour

The world demand for leafy vegetables growing on stalk or soft stems is rapidly growing. Despite the growing population, labour shortage has become a limiting factor for agricultural production and there is need to increase the amount of harvested vegetables at low labour input. One way to do this may be to consider harvesting the vegetable many times before it flowers and bear seeds. However, most western farmers have hardly explore this option of traditional selective harvesting that is geared towards increasing yield. This has left me pondering for a long time as I keep questioning myself …

Why do farmers harvest stalk leafy vegetables by uprooting them?

Ever since I traveled to the West, I have been wondering why farmers keep harvesting leafy vegetables by totally uprooting them. Once uprooted, the lifespan of the plants is over. Then they will nurse new seedlings again, tilled the soil, peg and plant afresh. What a waste of labour, time, inputs and harvest?

Rooted Amaranth (Green)

I grew up in Africa where I learned and practiced traditional farming practices from my grand-mums, parents and the entire community. Yes, we had a routine of going to the farm to cultivate our own vegetables and food crops every Saturday. A practice I enjoyed doing even after leaving the University of Buea and traveling to the West in 2003. In short, I am a proud farmer by birth and I don’t remember a year without growing my own organic food in my home garden. My family have been practicing subsistence farming and it is not by accident that I am passionate about farming.

How to harvest soft stem leafy vegetables

Most leafy vegetable grow on stalks that when harvested can develop new shoots from the remaining nodes on the stalk. In this case we harvest leaving about 2-4 nodes for new shoots to further develop, grow and spread out. Use a sharp knife and cut the vegetable just above 3 nodes on the rooted stalk. Within 4 days, you will see new lateral buds developing at the node. This may take about 10-14 days to fully grow into a broad leave stem vegetable ready for harvest.

So if you have a raised bed full with leafy vegetables, it is certain that all will not grow at the same rate, height or size. Normally these type of vegetables are usually planted closely (about 15-20 cm apart) to each other because only the vegetative growth is harvested as food. To ensure continuous harvest, you will need to employ the concept of selective harvesting.

Cut amaranth (Green)

Traditional selective harvesting practices

Selective harvesting is required for leafy vegetables that grow less homogeneously or are multi-annual. Selective vegetable harvesting allows us to harvest fresh vegetables weekly for a long period of time. Soft stem leafy vegetable like huckleberry (country njamajama), amaranths (green), bitter leaves and water leaves falls within this category. At Suzy-Farms we practice selective harvesting that enable us to harvest vegetables for about 2 months (at least 8 times) before they get mature. Once they are matured, they develop flowers and seeds. This is a sure indication that harvesting will soon come to a halt. But until then, these vegetables should be harvested by cutting the soft stem with a sharp knife. 

Within the bed of closely planted leafy vegetable, first harvest only the big matured ones. All small shoots vegetables should not be harvested. Leave these small ones to take advantage of the space created after the first harvest to further develop, spread out and growth bigger. Within a week, they must have grown bigger, matured and ready for harvest. At the same time the node left on the stems after the first harvest should have also developed young growing shoots. So by the time you carry out the second selective harvesting, this young shoots will also get enough space now to develop. This cycle may continue for 3 months with continues weekly harvesting. Please watch this video to understand how it works… Seeing is believing and believing is practicing. Click on our
youtube channel to watch how it is done in our home garden.

Bounty harvest of cut Amaranth from flower beds (companion planting)

Please make sure you grow organic, eat organic and live a healthy lifestyle. We live just ones! Don’t mess your life with unhealthy food. Start your own backyard garden as soon as possible so we can keep sharing information and good experiences. Grow your own food whenever possible and avoid frozen vegetable as much as you can. You can enhance your soil health by increasing the soil organic matter and also by practicing companion planting with beneficial synergies. This will also help to reduce pest and diseases while enhancing production. Please, make sure you harvest, cook and eat same day if possible. They are lots of vitamins and minerals in vegetables to nourish the body. These nutrients begins to reduce gradually from 8 hours after harvesting. Let your labour not go in vein. Harvest just when you are ready to prepare and eat. Watch this video here!!! 

Our Slogan: From Farm to Table. Yes! Let’s do it.  Experience it and share your story with us. Bingo!!! Those without gardens could buy fresh vegetables from organic stores or from your usual shop. However, stay away from frozen vegetable.

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