Peas in the corn?

[skeeter9]

I've been working on my garden plan for 2012 and I had a thought. What if I let my peas and pole beans climb up into my corn? It would save a lot of space and I wouldn't have to put up trellises, but some possible downsides could be difficulty harvesting, and it might choke the corn a bit. Hmmmm...... Anybody have any thoughts?

 

[Ridgerunner]

A famous combination used by the Native Americans was beans, corn, and squash or pumpkin. The corn would provide a a trellis for the beans to climb on. The beans would inject nitrogen into the ground, not in time for this year's crop but helpful for next year's, and both squash and corn use nitrogen. The squash would act as a living mulch, covering the ground and keeping weeds and grass growth down while conserving moisture. I've heard that combination called the three sisters.

The corn was dent corn, harvested dry on the stalk in the fall. The beans were pole beans, harvested after they dried. They were not eaten as green beans. The squash was winter squash. Guess when it was harvested. This little detail of the types of crops originally used is often not mentioned.

I've tried this combination, sort of, but not using the same types of corn or beans as original. My sweet corn is finished and harvested by the time you pick the beans, but the corn stalks do hold the bean vines up. The winter squash vine is underfoot. You have to be very careful where you step in there. As you mentioned, it is hard to harvest. I have not tried it in a raised bed. That may work better. I have not tried summer squash or zucchini because of the compact growth habit. I'm sure others on this forum have tried various combinations and differetn methods. Hopefully they will chime in with their experiences. It would not surprise me at all if someone has done something like this and were very happy with the results.

With that history lesson out of the way so I could point out the different types the original three sisters were, the dent corn, dried beans, and winter squash or pumpkins, your method sounds good. I would not plant all three sisters together because of the difficulty of harvesting, since I grow sweet corn and use beans as greeen beans. But I plant sweet corn and winter squash together to save space. It works well. I have not done it, but I'd expect corn and beans planted together to work very well, just don't have squash underfoot when you are harvesting the green beans.

It would not work for me to plant corn and peas together. I plant my peas as soon as the ground can be worked since they are a cool weather crop. The corn is planted after the ground warms up. The peas would be finished long before the corn was anywhere capable of supporting them. Now, I'm talking about green peas, If you are talking about a different type of peas, that could be different. Sometimes these little details are important.

 

[lesa]

As Ridgerunner says- for some zones peas and corn are harvested at very different times. Not sure how it works for you, out there in paradise? I planted a bush type of peas- and they worked out really well. No need for them to climb at all. Good luck! Happy Gardening!

 

[hoodat]

To paraphrase a certain president,"It depends on what peas is". To a Southerner and Northerner two different plants come to mind when they hear the word Pea. A northerner will think of a green or snap pea and a southerner of black eyed or other field peas.
Green peas wouldn't be good because corn wants heat and they need cool weather. Black eyed peas or their cousins work well since, as Ridge Runner pointed out, the system works best when the peas are harvested dry after the corn has been harvested. Black eyed peas like heat as much as corn does.

 

[catjac1975]

I have put beans on corn but not peas. Peas have to be planted much earlier than corn. Can't remember the outcome.

 

[vfem]

I have done the beans on the corn like you suggest... worked great for me.

But like it was started, peas like cooler season temps then beans and corn, so my peas are usually bitter by the time I even put my corn in the ground. But its a perfect pairing for when my poles beans need to go in. However, my pole beans are still going when my corn is done. So the stalks end up staying the in the ground to support the beans, so I don't get to use that bed again.

 

[skeeter9]

Thanks for all the info, guys. Ridgerunner, I always wondered what the 3 sisters thing was, but haven't looked into it yet. Now I get it.

So, I think I'm going to try planting the beans and corn together, but put the summer squash and green snap peas elsewhere. I read somewhere to plant corn in blocks because of it's pollination needs, so that's what I'm going to do. Hopefully that will work with the beans, too.