The Three Sisters

I love reading and I love gardening. These two passions intersected in a delightful and meaningful way while reading Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer. at the same time I was planning my garden this spring. I was inspired to adjust my fledgling garden layout and give the Three Sisters Indigenous agricultural planting method a try.

Kimmerer does a masterful job of weaving stories from her Indigenous background together with her training as a botanist. One of the stories she shared was about the Three Sisters - a method for growing corn, beans and squash together in one mound. Sister Corn grows tall and offers the gift of support to the beans. Sister Bean offers the gift of nutrient rich nitrogen to fertilize the soil. And Sister Squash's broad leaves provide shaded ground that offers the gift of a natural mulch to keep moisture in and weeds out. What is remarkable is that grown together, the Three Sisters are actually more productive (yielding more harvest acre per acre) than if they were grown separately. They are stronger united than divided!

The success of the Three Sisters is a gentle nudge from mother earth that we, too, are stronger united than divided. Cooperation, reciprocity and interdependence are essential to our survival. God our creator, - through the gift of creation - calls us to "respect one another, support one another, bring our gift to the world and receive the gifts of others, and there will be enough for all." (Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer, page 132)

As we move into this post-pandemic season, I encourage you to reflect on the lessons of the Three Sisters. All too often, we get caught up in the trap of overvaluing competition, comparison, negativity and polarization. By God's grace, may we shift our perspective and remember just how important it is to treat one another with respect, support one another and share our gifts generously..

God is good. God's love is abundant. Thanks be to God!

Photo Credit: Family-photocredit_-Old-Farmers-Almanac.jpg