Three Sisters

Milpa

The Three Sisters

The union between Corn, Beans and Pumpkin is ancestral. It is known as Milpa, a word derived from the Nahuatl indigenous language, of the Uto-Aztecan family. As an ancient agricultural technique used in the Americas by native peoples, the Three Sisters represent a precolonial epistemology of scientific relevance to the trajectory of human existence. Corn, beans, and pumpkin seeds, when planted together, maximize the productivity of each of the three, enrich the soil, and contribute robustly to people's nutrition. Corn, in its quest for as much light as possible, grows vertically and provides a stable structure for the beans to climb. Beans, in turn, provide the soil with Nitrogen, an essential element for the healthy growth of several plants, including corn. Squash stays low on the ground, its wide leaves protect the soil and shallow roots from direct sun, and prevents the development of unwanted weeds. This trio is famous even in Brazilian popular music. Luiz Gonzaga, one of the greatest sertanista composers in Brazil, poetically describes the arrival of the rains in the arid fields of the Pernambuco hinterland: "...From the arrival of the rains in the hinterland See the cracked earth softening The land, before poor, enriching The corn pointing to the sky The beans on the floor spreading And then, for the harvest, what a joy…" Seeds and Tales created this piece where Milpa is the protagonist, honored as one of the first technological creations of holistic agriculture.

Phaseolus vulgaris

Purple Striped Creole Bean

This purple striped variety of common bean was purchased from the farm Recanto do São Francisco in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The selection of creole beans, as well as corn, is sometimes done for aesthetic reasons, creating an abundance of colors and patterns. Guardians of these genetic varieties are very proud to preserve this abundance and carry out exchanges between traditional communities. The wild Phaseolus vulgaris is native to the Americas, domesticated in Mesoamerica, and later in the Andes region. It traveled south, most likely alongside squash and maize (corn). These three Mesoamerican crops constitute the "Three Sisters", and are central to ancient Indigenous American agriculture techniques. Together, they complement each other not only in growth and development, but also in nutritional value.

Cucurbita moschata

Squash

This creole pumpkin variety was cultivated by Walterci, a small rural producer from Santa Rita do Jacutinga in the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Walterci's small production guarantees his own subsistence, and income through the sale of his surplus. Alongside corn and beans, squash is one of the three Mesoamerican crops called the “Three Sisters”, and they are fundamental to ancient Native American agricultural techniques. Together, they complement each other not only in growth and development, but also in nutritional value. Native to the Americas, the Cucurbita moschata was distributed across the world following the European colonizing voyages. These new environments boosted this plant’s diversity and genetic variations, as such, becoming not only naturalized but also traditional in new lands. Zimbabwean cultivars, for instance, are manyfold, unique, thoroughly non-commercialised, and farmed alongside corn as staged by their Amerindian counterparts.