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The protein from maize is further enhanced by protein contributions from beans and pumpkin seeds, while pumpkin flesh provides large amounts of vitamin A; with the Three Sisters, farmers harvest about the same amount of energy as from maize monoculture, but get more protein yield from the inter-planted bean and pumpkin. Mt.
In this austere desert environment, after summer monsoon rains, the Papago would rush to plant tepary beans in small areas where a stream or arroyo had overflowed and the soil was soaked. The tepary bean quickly germinated and matured before the soil dried out. The Indians often managed the flow of floodwater to facilitate the growth of the beans.
The large squash leaves shaded the soil, preserving moisture and crowding out weeds. The beans fixed nitrogen in the soil and climbed up the corn stalks as support. [19] The Wichita, and possibly other southern peoples, planted or tended thickets of low-growing Chickasaw Plum trees separating and bordering their maize fields. Tobacco was ...
Year by year the other trees were cut down to make fences or burned to produce ash that increased soil fertility. Ohio from 1800 to 1900 went from 95% forest to 10%. [ 24 ] At the same time farmers eradicated varmints that posed threats to their own safety, or to livestock, or to crops.
Pine and oak trees create the acidic soil blueberries need. Strawberries and dewberries create healthy ground cover, clover fixes nitrogen for the blueberries' high needs, yarrow and bay laurel repel unhealthy insects. Each of the herbal companions listed also like the acidic soil the blueberry plant needs. Fruit trees: Various
An example is the Three Sisters, the inter-planting of corn with pole beans and vining squash or pumpkins. In this system, the beans provide nitrogen; the corn provides support for the beans and a "screen" against squash vine borer; the vining squash provides a weed suppressive canopy and a discouragement for corn-hungry raccoons. [8]
When creating chinampas, in addition to building up masses of land, a drainage system was developed. [6] This drainage system was multi-purposed. A ditch was created to allow for the flow of water and sediments (likely including night soil). [7] Over time, the ditch would slowly accumulate piles of mud. [6]
A “home garden” in Central America could contain 25 different species of trees and food crops on just one-tenth of an acre. [11] "Tropical home gardens" are traditional systems developed over time by growers without formalized research or institutional support, and are characterized by a high complexity and diversity of useful plants, with ...