The Three Sisters don’t play around! They perform in the summer garden, producing a sizable crop as the fall season arrives. The trio typically consists of corn, beans, and squash. 

This gardening method originates with the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, a collective of nations known as the “People of the Longhouse.” It’s popular in gardens across the U.S. because it’s an efficient use of space. 

Instead of separating crops into rows, you’ll group three plants and let them grow in harmony. Corn grows upright, beans clamber up the stalks, and squash leaves shade the soil below. 

If you’re wondering what other plants grow well together, then wonder no more; here are five modern twists on the traditional Three Sisters Garden that are perfect for fall.

Fava Bean Cover Crop Seeds

Oregon Sugar Pod II Snow Pea

Oregon Sugar Pod II Snow Pea Seeds

Traditional Three Sisters

Upright growers pair perfectly with trailing companions below.

Corn, beans, and squash make up the traditional Sisters method, but in a fall garden, you can switch up any of the vegetables. Use sweet corn instead of popcorn, or green beans instead of dry beans. Summer squash performs well in the summer, so switch it with winter squash for the fall. 

No matter what you choose, avoid stepping on the squash leaves down on the soil below. Consistent harvesting of sweet corn or green beans may cause damage to the leaves, and a little caution goes a long way. 

These vegetables need the fall to ripen their produce. Though you plant their seeds in summer, you’ll need to wait until mid to late fall to harvest corn, dry beans, and winter squash. Pick the crops when they’re ready, and wait to clear the site until all of them finish producing. 

Flower Power

Golden heads track sunlight, shading the garden below.

This Three Sisters fall garden twist switches corn for sunflowers as an important distinction. Sunflowers grow tall and mighty, and you can harvest their seeds in the fall like you would corn ears. Bean vines spread up the sunflower stalks, and squashes spread underneath. 

Choose a sunflower type that reaches impressive heights. Opt for the classic ‘Mammoth’ sunflower for a 10 to 12-foot stalk with a sunflower up to a foot long. If you need one bigger, try ‘Mongolian Giant.’ It may grow to 14 feet tall, and its head can reach 18 inches wide.

To give sunflower stalks a head start, plant them a week or two before planting the bean and squash seeds. Keep the site moist while the seeds sprout, and water less in late summer and early fall. These three crops are drought-tolerant once they establish themselves, though they grow best with consistent moisture. 

The Cold-Hardy Trio

Winter growth quietly boosts soil for next season.

Gardeners with frosty winters must try the cold-hardy trio in a unique Three Sisters fall garden! This combo combines the cold hardiness of cover crops with edible greens and peas. Fava beans grow tall, peas climb their stalks, and mâche covers the soil. 

Mâche, or corn salad, is a leafy green that’s more cold-tolerant than most others. It’ll thrive in the fall, winter, and spring garden. Use its leaves in salads, or cook them like spinach. Peas are classic legumes, and they thrive in the cool of fall. 

Fava beans fix nitrogen in the soil, like peas. They boost the growth of mâche and nearby vegetables. If you plant fava beans before the summer solstice, you’ll see flowers and pods form on the stalks. If you plant them after the date, the stalks will grow tall, but they won’t flower until spring if they survive the winter.

Get Your Greens

Edible roots and leaves make the garden complete.

Don’t forget your leafy greens! Grow cabbage, lettuce, and turnips together in a Three Sisters fall garden. These three crops grow tasty greens perfect for salads, smoothies, and sandwiches. They provide plenty of leaves during fall, and cabbage may overwinter in some mild climates of the U.S.

Turnips grow tasty greens that are delicious in cooked recipes, and they grow edible roots like beets. Grate fresh turnip root on your salad, or cook the roots whole in boiling water or the oven. Lettuce works best fresh, and cabbage is ideal fresh, cooked, or fermented as sauerkraut.

All three vegetables need cool, moist conditions to thrive. Cabbage grows above the lettuce, and turnips fill the empty spaces. Plant them in midsummer up to two months before your first average frost date. Lettuce is the exception; you may sow its seeds continuously for baby greens until harsh frosts arrive.  

Herbal Special 

Tall herbs support smaller companions in cozy arrangements.

Why not switch up vegetables for herbs in a Three Sisters fall garden? An herb garden is superb for home cooks who want to spice up their recipes. Plus, dry herbs can’t compete with fresh ones. Their flavor is supreme. When your plants grow too large, you may chop them down and dry them for later use.

This herbal special combines winter savory with parsley and yerba buena. Winter savory grows upright, and it’s a perennial shrub. It’ll mark the space throughout the seasons. Parsley is a biennial, and it often reseeds itself if you let it flower.