Captain's Phlog                                   2020.01.28
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The end of January means a person's heart hearkens to spring
and it's time now to think about the garden. 

I grew up in New York City. The other day I realized that the
first hole I ever dug with a purpose was at the age of
nineteen. By my 25th birthday though, I was living in a tent
and building a log cabin from trees without electricity. My
wife and I lived like that, drawing water in buckets from a
dug well and using a propane fridge and kerosene lamps for
over a decade happily.

So you see that I'm not a gardener by upbringing and I relate
the above info just to establish that I do have a wee bit of
"Peasant Street Cred". While a can't garden well, last year I
decided to try a Three Sisters [1] plot. Three sisters
appeals to me because it's very Fire-and-Forget. Many peoples
on Turtle Island would plant their three sisters at their
Winter Village before leaving in the spring, returning in the
fall to harvest their bounty.

I purchased some heirloom varieties suited to that style and
had a go. My corn grew, my beans grew, but I couldnt grow
squash to save my life.  I also has luck with a handful of
other crops that needed no tending. Some crops were a
failure. This year I'm going to play to my strengths and
invest time in the things that worked. Excepting squash. I
need to get a handle on squash.

Notes from 2019:
  Dahlia tubers should be planted cut end up.
  Beans and Peas are all self-pollinating and wont cross.
  Start those pretty leafy potted things in mid-May.
  Use basins in dirt for three-sisters watering.
  Don't mess with starting seeds indoors except for
    seedlings to sell.
  Assume losses in Three Sisters corn & beans of 50% from
    animals.

Includes: (Direct sew unless noted)
  Multiplier Onion
  Parsnip & Spinach
  Corn, Squash, Bean & Sun Flower
  Peas (Plant in Mid-July for Next Years Nitrogen)
  ** Collect Seeds for Next Year from All Above **
  Tomato & Basil (Purchase one flat of seedlings each)

FUN FACT: My corn cultivar is a Red Flint from Italy that
hasn't changed much since it was introduced into Europe in
the 16th-17th century. Flint corn isn't eaten green or
popped. It is ground into flower, typically after
nixtamalization.

[1] https://www.nativeseeds.org/blogs/blog-news/how-to-grow-a-three-sisters-garden