grant441
1358456015
Posted 1471134945
Reply with quote #1
Three sisters gardening with figs is an idea that comes from the American Indians using fig trees instead of corn.The pumpkin plants at the base is a living mulch that provides weed suppression and moisture retention.The beans put nitrogen into the soil and feeds the pumpkins and fig tree.The fig tree provides the structure for the beans to climb.In the end I get pumpkins beans and figs all organically grown
RegencyLass
1441763907
Posted 1471137240
Reply with quote #2
Excellent idea!
~RL~ Zone 5 Wish list: Saint Martin, Pastiliere, Panache, Dark Portuguese, Alma, Nero600m, Salce, Vista, Malta Black, Gino, Galicia Negra & Conadria.
figpig_66
1416870358
Posted 1471138815
Reply with quote #3
Agreed. Going to do it.
jkuo
1399944767
Posted 1471140450
Reply with quote #4
That's an interesting idea. I partially buried some potted trees and planted sweet potatoes and bush beans around the pots. I had a similar though of the sweet potato vines and bean plants being a living mulch, and I would dig up the tubers and buried pots around the same time. I've always disliked growing pole beans because I'm too lazy to build a support for them. It never dawned on me to use the fig tree as the climbing structure.
Johnny - Lancaster, PA, Zone 6b Plants I'm growing: Google Doc
jdsfrance
1376988473
Posted 1471159932
Reply with quote #5
Hi,
GregMartin
1370378358
Posted 1471169206
· Edited
Reply with quote #6
This year I planted potatoes in the spaces around potted figs in my garden beds. Same thought as you Johnny. When I pull the figs this fall the beds will be very easy to dig the potatoes from.
musillid
1327758167
Posted 1471179840
Reply with quote #7
"Just be careful as those climbing veggies can bend and even crack branches on the trees . . . ." This rules out using cucumbers, too.
GregMartin
1370378358
Posted 1471181801
Reply with quote #8
I think crosnes (Stachys affinis) and American hogpeanuts (Amphicarpaea bracteata) may make another good polyculture choice in-between the planted fig pots. You'll always miss some and they'll come back year after year for a bonus crop along with your figs. The crosnes will form a groundcover and produce bunches of small "potatoes". The hogpeanuts will climb the figs, but they will have no weight to harm branches, won't compete much for light (they grow in shade very well and have small leaves), will fix nitrogen and produce underground beans. Hogpeanuts grow like crazy here in my forest and forest edge. Both of them also move around a lot across my gardens...must be mice, chipmunks or something moving the beans and tubers around.
adoresfigs45
1421515059
Posted 1471183350
Reply with quote #9
excellent idea thanks for sharing
rcantor
1309799312
Posted 1471201758
Reply with quote #10
Both the pumpkin and the beans will want to climb and shade the fig. It will take constant work to combat this. They will compete for soil nutrients and fight to produce the microbiological environment they prefer. Annual veggies prefer bacterial dominant soil while trees prefer a fungally dominated soil. If you plant an underground crop you'll disturb the fig roots to harvest it.
GregMartin
1370378358
Posted 1471206361
Reply with quote #11
I'm in agreement with everything you said Bob. That's why I think the perennial creatures I mentioned should work well and provide a modest bonus crop when you disturb the soil by pulling out the potted figs. I'm doing the figs in 5 gallon buckets with 32 1" holes on the sides (none on bottom) method and when I pull them all up the soil around them is easy to push around to find root crops in.
