This is the third year of our Kankakee Valley Historical Society Native Gardens project. Cindy Deardorff and Judy Judge are core of our Native Gardens committee. Last week Cindy and Judy began planting of the Three Sisters garden. A Native American Three Sisters Vegetable Garden consists of corn, squash, and beans.
Tribes in the Kankakee River area, such as the Potawatomi and Miami, planted the Three Sisters in mounds about three ft. in diameter and about one foot high in the center. Corn is first planted in the very center of the mound. Beans are planted two weeks after the corn sprouts, on the outer sloping circle of the mound, along with squash seeds, just along the outer ring of the mound.
The bean roots help stabilize the corn and provide it with valuable nitrogen. The squash plants, which tend to ramble, shade the roots of the corn and beans to conserve water. Other vegetables (such as the tomatoes and peppers you will see featured in our garden) were also supplemented for further nutritional value for people’s diets, along with sunflowers for dried seeds. Even foods can be considered “medicine,” because a proper diet keeps us healthy.
Much of our Medicine Garden has come out if its winter slumber and is coming along swimmingly. A Native American Medicinal Garden actually didn’t truly exist in the traditional sense. These plants were gathered where they grew naturally. For your convenience, they have assembled some medicinal plants that you may find wild in this area into one garden plot. (There may be an “imposter” or two not from this area, although they still have medicinal properties. Can you find them?)
These gardens will be on display at the Aukiki River Festival
You too can be part of our Native Gardens project. Contact me: jophod@gmail.com and Cindy can add you to our next work party. Go here to view out KVHS Native Gardens webpage.
If you are a History Buff You Might Want To visit:
• Calumet Revisited Lecture Series 2020
• Home for the Holidays Home Tour – Whiting 2019
• Chance of a Lifetime Tour Of Historic Community Center
• Century of Progress Tour
• Sleepy Hollow
• Aukiki Historical River Walk
• Bartlett Homes Featured at Garden Walk
• Chautaugqua In The Dunes
• LaPorte’s Annual Old Car Show
• Visit Buckley Homestead – Lowell
More In-Depth Articles about Gardening Tips
• Spring Landscaping Tips to Free Up Time in the Summer
(by Blain’s Farm & Fleet)
• 2020 Symposium
• What To Do About Brown Grass
• Moisture Induced Diseases affecting Plants and Landscaping
• Winter Gardening Tips from Purdue
• Protecting Your Garden from Cold Weather
• Top Gardening Tips for a Fruitful Season
• Visit Friendship Botanic Gardens in Michigan City
• How to Make Your Garden Patriotic, by Cassie Steele
• The Greenhouse in East Chicago has Working Aquaponics
• Visit Gabis Arboretum
Susie Young Baxter, CEO, has published PanoramaNOW Magazine for 31 years. Her hobbies are Camping, Boating, Hiking, Nature, Gardening and Outdoor Activities. She is an Artist, Graphic Designer, an Avid Seamstress, Dabbles in Homemade Crafts and Landscaping. Since her Father was a Health Teacher, she also likes homeopathic Health Solutions. Since blogging started over 10 years ago, PanoramaNow has been added to Newsbreak – a national news affiliate.
