Kionhekwa
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Basics
- The name for a type of Polyculture practiced by the Native People of North and Central America
- The word "Kionhekwa" is the name the Iroquois people used to refer to the process
- In most literature it is also referred to as "The Three Sisters"
- ESSENTAILLY:
- Maize is used to provide structure for the Climbing Beans , and Squash was used for Ground Cover / as a Cover Crop
- The beans acted as the Nitrogen Fixation for the system
- Thus all parts of the farm support each other, and do better than if there were separate Maize, Beans, and Squash Fields
Planting Schedule
- Warm Weather Crops
- Maize First
Methodology
Mound Method
- 2-5 Each of the Beans and Maize
- 2-4 Squash
- Each is put into a mound of raised soil/mulch arranged in a grid in the larger grow area
- Spacing of supposedly ~1 Meter =/- 25 Centimerers
- This needs checking
Internal Links
External Links
- The Wikipedia Page on Kionhekwa
- An Article on the Website "Pinnguaq" Titled "Polyculture: Traditional Haudenosaunee Kionhekwa Garden"
- A Video by the YouTube Channel "GRIN-U Education" Titled "Three Sisters: Companion Planting of North American Indigenous Peoples" ( ~11 Minute Watch )
- This also mentions the plot method (basically scaled up mega mound the size of a small garden), and the field method (basically Crop Rotation Corn Follows Beans because it is nitrogen hungry basically)